Force Recon in Vietnam & Is WW3 Actually Possible? | Bing West

Bing West looks back on a lifetime of war and policy, from serving as a Force Recon Marine in Vietnam and writing The Village to working in the Reagan administration and covering Iraq and Afghanistan alongside U.S. troops. We also discuss why America keeps repeating the same strategic mistakes, the rise of autonomous warfare, the growing challenge from China, and whether today’s conflicts are converging into something much larger. Grab Bing's books here: https://a.co/d/0iGKYJRo Today's Sponsors: Ultra Pouches ⬇️ Don’t sleep on @ultrapouches. New customers get 15% Off with code HOUSE at https://takeultra.com/  #ultrapouches #ad GhostBed ⬇️ https://www.ghostbed.com/house FOR 10% off!  Blue Chew ⬇️ https://bluechew.com/ Get 1 month free when you buy 2 of BlueChew Gold with code "HOUSECALL" For ad free video and audio and access to live streams and Eyes On Geopolitics...JOIN OUR PATREON!  https://www.patreon.com/c/TheTeamHouse To help support the show and for all bonus content including: -live shows and asking guest questions  -ad free audio and video -early access to shows -Access to ALL bonus segments with our guests Subscribe to our Patreon! ⬇️ https://www.patreon.com/TheTeamHouse Support the show here:⬇️ https://www.patreon.com/TheTeamHouse ___________________________________________________ ORDER JACK'S NEW BOOK "THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN"  ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/803651/the-most-dangerous-man-by-jack-murphy/paperback/ Subscribe to the new EYES ON podcast here:⬇️ https://www.youtube.com/@EyesOnGeopoliticsPod/featured __________________________________ Jack Murphy's book "We Defy: The Lost Chapters of Special Forces History" ⬇️ https://www.amazon.com/We-Defy-Chapters-Special-History-ebook/dp/B0DCGC1N1N/ —————————————————————— Or make a one time donation at: ⬇️ https://ko-fi.com/theteamhouse Social Media: ⬇️ The Team House Instagram: https://instagram.com/the.team.house?utm_medium=copy_link The Team House Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheTeamHousePod Jack’s Instagram: https://instagram.com/jackmcmurph?utm_medium=copy_link Jack’s Twitter:  https://twitter.com/jackmurphyrgr?s=21 Team House Discord: ⬇️ https://discord.gg/wHFHYM6 "Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio" 00:00 – Start 01:18 – Growing Up Around Marines & Joining the Corps 03:28 – Becoming a Marine Officer & Writing Small Unit Action in Vietnam 04:28 – Force Recon Deep Inside the DMZ 05:26 – Living and Fighting With a Combined Action Platoon 07:34 – Nearly 400 Days Inside a Vietnamese Village 09:52 – How the Combined Action Platoons Actually Worked 13:05 – Tet Offensive & Fighting at Night 16:00 – Seven Marines Killed in a Single Night 16:33 – Writing The Village During the Vietnam War 19:15 – The Tactical Lessons Bing Took From Vietnam 20:00 – Force Recon, Stealth & Operation Stingray 21:20 – Why Bing Blames Lyndon Johnson for the War’s Failure 23:16 – Could the U.S. Have Won the Vietnam War? 25:04 – “If You Go to War, You Have to Fight to Win” 26:53 – Why the War Could Have Been Won at the Squad Level 29:23 – Henry Kissinger & the End of South Vietnam 32:36 – Why America Keeps Repeating the Same Mistakes in War 34:48 – The “Jupiter Complex” of American Power 36:07 – H.R. McMaster, Vietnam & Repeating Old Mistakes 39:05 – America’s Debt Crisis & the Coming Defense Squeeze 42:04 – China, Defense Spending & the Future of Warfare 43:03 – AI, Autonomous Weapons & Killing Legacy Systems 47:14 – What the Fall of Rome Can Teach America 49:02 – AI CEOs, Power & the New “Jupiter Complex” 53:29 – Working for Ronald Reagan 54:44 – Reagan, Somalia & Confronting Soviet Influence 59:18 – The Final Years of the Cold War 1:00:42 – Central America, Oliver North & Reagan-Era Proxy Wars 1:02:40 – Iraq, Jim Mattis & the March to Baghdad 1:03:52 – Fallujah & the Decision to Halt the Marines 1:05:40 – Why You Can’t Fight a War Halfway 1:06:07 – The Fatal Problem of Enemy Safe Havens 1:07:28 – Pakistan, the Taliban & Why Afghanistan Couldn’t Be Won 1:14:32 – Afghanistan: “The Wrong War” 1:15:57 – Why Jim Gant Was the Exception, Not the Rule 1:19:34 – Cat 5 & the 2033 War 1:21:06 – China, Taiwan & America’s Coming Strategic Crisis 1:22:58 – Why the Pentagon Must Move Toward Autonomous Weapons 1:23:49 – Are Ukraine, Gaza & Iran the Prelude to World War III? 1:25:38 – Russia, China, Iran & North Korea Against the U.S. 1:27:34 – Should America Station Troops in Taiwan? 1:29:24 – Cat 5: The 2033 War 1:30:17 – Bing’s Next Projects 1:31:17 – The Last Platoon & Writing Afghanistan as Fiction 1:32:24 – Jack’s The Most Dangerous Man 1:34:14 – Closing Thoughts Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-team-house--5960890/support.