@sapphire @AmericanChampion @Ghislaine he said it wasn't a MILITARY defeat as opposed to Vietnam, and you dropped that word in your quote.

btw, I was raised around Vietnam vets who said that Vietnam wasn't a MILITARY defeat either, but a political one. Very similar cope. I tried to lift a big rock and I failed. Is it because I'm weak? No, my thighs are really good, it's just that I had some weak core muscles and I lost balance. Or maybe I need more training, I'm sure I could've done it if I'd maintained higher intra-abdominal pressure or if I'd better-exploited some neurological tricks to get more strength out of my muscles.

None of the cope is wrong, exactly, but it's still just more words to say "defeat".