CAMP VICTORY, Iraq — Wearing a camouflage suit and tie, Stephen Colbert took his show to Baghdad to entertain U.S. soldiers in Iraq. For openers, President Obama appeared by video to thank the troops.
"You're welcome," the mock pundit answered.
"I wasn't talking to you," the president deadpanned.
To the roaring approval of hundreds of troops at Camp Victory, on the western edge of Baghdad, Colbert on Sunday taped the first of four episodes of "The Colbert Report," in which he plays a pompous, blustering conservative TV host.
His first guest was Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. When Obama and Odierno suggested Colbert had to look like a soldier in order to be a soldier, the general took an electric razor to Colbert's perfectly parted cable-news coif.
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The four shows set for taping in the domed hall at Saddam Hussein's former Al Faw Palace were to air this week Monday-Thursday on Comedy Central.
Colbert has promoted the trip for weeks, but only vaguely because the military urged caution.
At Camp Victory, Colbert was in typical, cluelessly egotistical form. He showed a clip pretending that he himself didn't know his destination until he got off the plane and somebody threw a shoe at him.
In another skit, he arrived at Fort Jackson, S.C., in a stretch limousine for "the full 10 hours" of basic training, then struggled to do push-ups and sit-ups while a drill sergeant barked at him.
And, concluding that the six-year war in Iraq must be over because nobody's talking about it anymore, Colbert said he would take it upon himself to make it official: "By the power vested in me by basic cable, I officially declare we have won the Iraq war!"
Odierno gently took issue with the self-sure pundit's suggestion the war had 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 traveled to Iraq from Kuwait on Friday aboard a military transport plane, has said he decided to make the trip when he noticed economic news coverage was eclipsing reports from Baghdad.
Former Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, chided by Colbert throughout the campaign for his advanced age, made a surprise appearance, thanking the troops in a video for their service and reminding them to clean their muskets.
Both the character and the real Colbert are ardent supporters of the troops. He has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Yellow Ribbon Fund, which helps injured service members and their families, and is a board member of DonorsChoose.org, which is raising money for the education of children of military parents.
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