Originally Posted by Rochard

It depends on what you consider a victory. Winning a war used to mean "unconditional surrender". Germany and Japan come to mind here. Since then, the lines are less clear.

Iraq was a victory for the US. The US took control of the government, it's military, and the entire country.

You can argue that Afghanistan - for both the US and the Russians - was a victory. In both cases the military was defeated, the government replaced, and most of the country occupied. However, in countries such as Afghanistan (and Pakistan) the government isn't in control of the entire country. In Afghanistan, no matter what government is in control there will always be multiple armed groups trying to over throw them. But did Afghanistan ever attack Russia? Nope. Did Afghanistan ever invade the US? Nope. Not a clear victory for anyone, but I wouldn't really call it a defeat for Russia or the US. At a certain point fighting a war is not viable from a political standpoint.