Nice evasion.
Well if war comparisons are going to be made, then I'll make a boxing comparison. If a guy is winning the fight on the scorecards and has basically won every round and his opponent comes back and wins the last two rounds after getting pounded, did he win the fight? Fuck no. Can he still look good in the process ? Yes. And fans are closer to judges than they are to the UN.
And what if Undertaker comes back and retires Kane (equivalent of a knockout in your analogy)?The foregone conclusion was that this fight went to the cards.