Not being able to advance your political goals is losing (esp when they go backwards.)
The military is great at "blowing shit up," but the silly "my dick is bigger" mentality forgets what comes after. That's why these threads are worthless. Its also this type of thinking that got us into Iraq in the 1st place.
Some even hold onto their hubris, saying if we just did Scorched Earth strat it would have gone fine (tho for what purpose should we destroy a country and kill thousands upon thousands of people?) Like that action wouldn't be forgotten... retribution may not come tomorrow, but it will when it can.
Sunnis and Shias would still start fighting, as Iraq was a powderkeg from things that happened generations current and past, and we were dumb enough to light the match. Jihadis would still find a way in like water, as so many are spoiling for a fight. There was only ever one way this could have gone, it was just a matter of bad or worse. Hey, but I'm sure another f-22 or good bombing campaign would fix it.