Greek history created the term Pyrrhic victory to describe a win that comes at such a steep price to the victor that it is effectively a defeat. Achieving the goal requires sacrificing so many resources—such as time, money, or manpower—that the success is rendered practically meaningless.

The phrase originates from King Pyrrhus of Epirus, a Greek general who fought the Roman Republic in the 3rd century BCE. While Pyrrhus technically won two major battles against the Romans (the Battle of Heraclea in 280 BCE and the Battle of Asculum in 279 BCE), his own army suffered catastrophic casualties. After the second battle, he reportedly remarked, “If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.”

The war that the US waged with Iran with the unstinting support and coordination of Israel as well, comes close to fitting the definition of a Pyrrhic victory. But not quite.

The US and Israel did indeed expend incredible amounts of military assets in the fighting and both countries suffered casualties. In our case here in Israel, there was significant damage, loss of life, injuries and the depletion of large stocks of military hardware.

For the US, 13 American service people were killed, significant damage........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)