Defining Victory

Back in the old days, victory was announced easily by the winning side; it was too obvious and too clear that you couldn't possible deny it. Or maybe it was due to the fact that the "winning side" was the one doing the act of announcing, while the "defeated side" is busy in trying to save whatever left there to be saved...

But nowadays, people can talk for HOURS, even DAYS, about how victory was theirs. They would bring evidences, and talk with so much power and pride that you can't even question them! What really AMAZES me, is that BOTH sides are doing this these times, and in many times, it is the beatin' up side that is doing all the talking about how BIG their victory was!!!

But then it hit me! It's all a matter of standards! It's all about how you see things, and how you classify them.

You see, for one side, more than 10 military casualties is often considered a defeat; having one tank destroyed is considered a defeat, getting shot at one of their choppers or fighting jets, without it even being brought down or at least damaged, is considered a defeat; getting one missile landing on their territories, even if it landed on a deserted-life-empty area, is considered a defeat! For this side, I can't see how on earth would they ever defeat an enemy, let alone claiming victory!!

On the other side, the number of civilians being savagely murdered, no matter how high it reaches; hundreds or even thousands, doesn't mean they were defeated; having thousands of injured innocent women and babies is not considered a defeat; having all their villages and cities TOTALLY destroyed, and not having one block or stone over the other is not considered a defeat! For this side, please tell me how on HELL would they ever admit that they were defeated!!!

There's an old Russian saying that says: "If you don't have BALLS, don't try to have sex with women!!!"
If you are driving your car on the highway with your wife and kids aboard, and some drunk driver tried to pass you over, you'd simply move to the side of the road, and let that idiot go on his way; in your win-lose balance, you can't afford to have your family being subjected to even a remote-danger from that drunk guy. However, if you were alone in your car, the probabilities are very high that you would not only NOT get that dude gets away with it, you would even go after him and kick his ass! Because the win-lose balance it different now.

But if you don't give a shit about your wife and kids, then you would simply get into a fight with that dude, even if that lead to the death of your family, and the destruction of your car. And then you would so proudly go on TV, announce yourself the hero of your nation, the victorious man, who with all the courage of the world, faced that arrogant barbaric savage low-life guy, and stood up on behalf of all your fellow country men!!!!!

You know what's even more ironic? The so-called nation would fill the streets hailing for you, nominating you as the "absolute hero who brought the nation's pride back", going on TV channels talking hours and hours about how that dude was kicked in the ass, for the first time in AGES, and how that they are all filled with joy and endless hope that their cause will be from now on alive and heard!!!!

In the mean time, a simple math would be:

Your wife and kids are DEAD, and you are busy burying them
Your car is a piece of junk, and you have to walk from now on
And that dude is taking his own family in his own ride out for dinner....

Yeah...you were victorious...and that dude was defeated....

Irony of life.....