It’s official. US mock pundit Stephen Colbert has declared victory in the war in Iraq. But the top US commander in the country says not so fast.
Colbert, wearing a camouflage suit and tie, brought The Colbert Report — Comedy Central’s political satire in which he plays a conservative TV pundit — to hundreds of US troops at Camp Victory, the US military headquarters on the western edge of Baghdad.
He drew rousing applause from the uniformed audience when he poked fun at the fact that many of them have been deployed to Iraq multiple times and could end up in Afghanistan as soon as the US effort there accelerates.
“It must be nice here in Iraq because I understand some of you keep coming back again and again,” he said during the taping of the first show on Sunday. “You’ve earned so many frequent flyer miles, you’ve earned a free ticket to Afghanistan.”
The back-and-forth was humorous, but it took on serious undertones as Colbert sought to cast a spotlight on the declining attention paid to the six-year-old war in Iraq.
Colbert, who traveled to Iraq from Kuwait on Friday on board a military transport plane, has said he was spurred to make the trip when he noticed economic news coverage eclipsing reports from Baghdad.
The four shows, which were being taped in the domed marble hall at former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s al-Faw Palace, will air later.
Claiming the war must be over because nobody’s talking about it anymore, Colbert invoked the power of cable television to “officially declare we won the Iraq war.”
He offered a list of successes and commentary to bolster his point.
They included finding weapons of mass destruction, which was deemed “easier than we thought,” and telling the troops that US President Barack Obama should deploy them to the struggling General Motors.
However, his first guest, General Ray Odierno, disagreed the war has ended.
“We’re not quite ready to declare victory,” he said. “Things are moving forward, but again, it’s about bringing long-term stability.”
Colbert, who sat at a desk propped up by sandbags painted to simulate a US flag, responded by asking Odierno if he could bring long-term stability to the US when he’s done in Iraq.
He also joked about the economic crisis, congratulating a soldier in the audience who recently got his college degree while serving in Iraq for being the lone 2009 graduate with a job.
Colbert has promoted the trip for weeks but because the military urged caution, he only trumpeted a vague trip to “the Persian Gulf.”
He showed a clip claiming he himself didn’t know his destination until he got off the plane and somebody threw a shoe at him.
Two other guests made appearances in videoclips.
Former Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain thanked troops for their service and reminded them to clean their muskets.
And Obama criticized Colbert for not shaving his head during basic training and ordered Odierno to do it for him. The towering general started the job, although a stylist finished it off.
A newly shorn Colbert then waded into the audience of mostly soldiers to mingle as the camera panned over for close-ups of the cheering troops.
“Definitely the highlight was seeing him sacrifice his hair,” said Specialist Ryan MacLeod, 35, of Greenville, South Carolina.
Celebrities have frequently traveled to Iraq to entertain the troops. But the series of half-hour shows — dubbed Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando — mark the first time anyone has broadcast a taped show from Iraq from a tour intended to entertain US troops.
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