Yes, and Vietnam defeated the USA hence, according to your logic, Vietnam should be a major power
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When on earth was this? I don't recall the United States ever engaging Vietnam with the exception of the Vietnam conflict, of which saw the United States win virtually every battle, seeing a 18:1 casualty ratio, and compelled North Vietnam to sign The Treaty of Paris, of which where terms essentially dictated by the United States. Under this treaty the United States agreed to withdraw from South Vietnam and cease military actions against the North, who for their end, would recognize South Vietnam as a sovereign state and respect the earlier Geneva Conference. As everyone knows, North Vietnam violated said agreement a half year of the US withdraw and launched another campaign against the South, who fell three years after that.
If you want to claim that the CIA could not prevent South Vietnam from being annexed then this is one thing. It's another thing entirely to claim the Vietnam beat the United States. This is made all the more self-evident when the terms of the conflict is examined from the political viewpoint of the Americans. The Congress, since the beginning, had tried to vote to cease military actions. The 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution made it clear that American forces would not be deployed into combat and that only material goods and training could be delivered to South Vietnam. Johnston, after the 1964 elections, issued executive orders for the contrary and began punitive bombing. By 1967 The Congress began holding resolutions in favor of repealing the Tonkin Resolution and cease military action since entire American divisions had been deployed to fill direct combat roles. Nixon, in 1968 -1969 instead offered a policy of "Vietnamization" in which American commitments would be gradually withdraw to avoid a power-vacuum. This lasted until late 1972 when a peace treaty between the North and South was signed and the last American soldiers handed over their missions to be filled by South Vietnamese soldiers.
Similar examples exist today in Iraq and Afghanistan, but most easily seen in Iraq. After the "surge" sustained a reduction in violence by over 90%, American leaders decided against an imminent withdraw. Instead, to avoid a power-vacuum, bases where very gradually handed over to Iraqi brigades as they proved themselves competent enough to handle a charge. This culminated in the final withdraw in late 2011. Virtually identical to Vietnam. Should ISIS/Iran/Al-Qaeda annexe Iraq, three years after the Americans ceased its military commitments, then how could they defeat them?
