The result was a complete victory for the Spartans, which rescued their city from the brink of strategic defeat.

And the longer they do, the more likely their dream - to inflict a strategic defeat on America - will seem possible.

No public relations campaign could succeed in painting an early phased withdrawal as anything but a strategic defeat.

But what was almost a decisive, strategic defeat turned into only a marginal, tactical one.

This was both a tactical victory and a strategic defeat for the Crusaders.

The path to this strategic defeat began with the failure to capture or kill bin Laden.

From 1943, the army's fortunes turned and it hardly suffered a strategic defeat.

This could be shaping up to a strategic defeat.

As a result the offensive was a major strategic defeat.

The loss of control of these rivers was a significant strategic defeat for the Confederacy.