WATCH: Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart Take On the American War Machine
Leave it to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to make light of a very unfunny situation. In last night’s episodes, both hosts focused their opening segments on the air strikes the U.S. and five Arab partner nations launched against ISIS targets in Syria. While White House officials are insisting this is not the start of a new war (it’s a “counterterrorism strategy”) and that similar tactics have been “successful” elsewhere, Stewart and Colbert seem skeptical.
Pulling out his “Mideast frequent bombing card,” Colbert uses a hole puncher to mark Syria off the ever-expanding list of Middle Eastern countries the U.S. has attacked aerially. “All we need to do is bomb Oman and I get a free falafel!” Colbert exclaims.
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Both hosts also lampoon the mainstream media’s transparent delight at the prospect of having a new war to report on. In response to a CNN host’s claim that “we’ve been waiting for this moment for weeks,” Stewart says:
“It was the iPhone 6 of wars. It’s expensive, a little bigger, a little more unwieldy than you thought it would be. It’s gonna be at least a two-year commitment. And it kind of feels like you just got the fuckin’ last one.”
Check out both clips below.