Personally I do not think that the US won the war, however, I will not for one minute believe that the US military lost. A war is won when the enemy is no longer capable of fighting due to the fact that they are out of food, weapons, ammunition, fuel, and soldiers. If you have no influence on the battlefield, you have lost the battle. If you have no influence on the country, you have lost the war. Now, according to this definition, neither side lost. The NVA held all the territory and was able to control the entire country. As well, the US military, given the green light, could have done the same thing. Obviously, that green light never came, so the US left. The one side that DID lose the war was the ARVN, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, as they were driven from every position they held and ceased to exist as an effective fighting force, or as any kind of fighting force, for that matter.
So where does the US fit into this? Well, imo, the war was a total defeat for US foreign policy. The one comfort that the US can take for this mess is that it was, strictly speaking, never a war. The US government sent the military over to try to enforce their foreign policy in what thy euphemistically called a police action, but they did not have the intestinal fortitude to make it a real war. The rules of engagement were absolutely ludicrous, forcing the military to fight battles while handcuffed. In the end, US foreign policy could not be applied to Vietnam, so imo, the US did indeed lose the war. Ironically though, it looks like the US will finally, for only the second time in its history, win the peace.
Dean.