The US also arguably lost the Iran war. So far it can't claim any minor fraction of a victory, at least; seems to be the general consensus.

I like to read Bret Devereaux (from the frequently HN posted https://acoup.blog/) takes on this in his Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/bretdevereaux.bsky.social)

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gchamonlive a day ago | parent | next [-]

It doesn't win wars, but it provides the necessary equipment for carnage and stalemates all over the globe. Remember war is just a pretext, the objective is always profit, so as long as a lost war is very profitable it's a success in their books.

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MisterTea a day ago | parent | next [-]

IMO the last real war the US participated in and helped to win was WW2 giving it a massive ego. And even then it was drawn in via Pearl Harbor. After that it was a bunch of "wars" it fabricated to satisfy its ego with various (often poor) outcomes.

	▲	Sabinus 9 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I don't think it's fair to characterise the Cold War was an ego thing. Global authoritarian communism wouldn't have been a good time for the vast majority.

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flossly a day ago | parent | prev [-]

As long as the profits of weapons contractors go up, it's considered a win. Most senate members are well invested, so they agree...

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KellyCriterion 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Id say there was not a single chance "to win" from the beginning on? (whatever "winning" in a war may mean)

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dylan604 a day ago | parent | prev [-]

If everyone has the same conclusion, how is it an argument? Nobody thinks the US won in Iran except the morons that started it. Maybe bigOil feels like its a win as their profits are soaring???

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gota a day ago | parent [-]

No, I mean - the US has arguably already lost. It (almost unanimously) has no sign of winning. But it could, maybe, still win in the future.

In short the argument is: can the US still win in any sense?

	▲	tmnvix 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		If it leads to the US staying away from future wars then it in one sense it could be a win - for regular Americans. But I doubt that very much. The US state is a machine geared to war and exploitation in too many ways. More of the good people in the US need to be aware of this - it's painfully obvious to the recipients of US foreign policy.