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Colbert Gets Buzz Cut in Baghdad

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 8, 2009 8:13 AM CDT

(Newser) – When Stephen Colbert announced he was doing four shows in front of the troops in Baghdad, many wondered if he’d tone down his ironic bluster. Wonder no more. Colbert swaggered on stage for the taping in a camouflage business suit yesterday, and declared himself the only one man enough to declare victory in Iraq, the New York Times reports. Then the president ordered Ray Odierno to shave Colbert’s head.

Colbert says he doesn’t want to patronize the troops by dumbing down his show, and he’s using his buffoonish persona to make a point. “My character thinks the war is over because he doesn’t hear about it anymore,” he says. In addition to his show, he guest-edited this week's Iraq-themed issue of Newsweek. "We stopped seeing much coverage of the Iraq War back in September," he writes in his editor's letter, "and I just figured the insurgents were wiped out because they were heavily invested in Lehman Brothers."

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (2)]

The June 15 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands June 8), "Iraq," features the first ever guest editor, Stephen Colbert. (PRNewsFoto/NEWSWEEK)

Stephen Colbert gets a military style haircut from General Raymond Odierno in Baghdad, Iraq, June 7, 2009. (AP Photo/ Steve Manuel, HO)

Stephen Colbert tapes the first of four shows in front of U.S. soldiers at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Steve Manuel, HO)

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It must be nice here in Iraq because I understand some of you keep coming back again and again. You've earned so many frequent flyer miles, you've earned a free ticket to Afghanistan. - Stephen Colbert to troops in Baghdad

We stopped seeing much coverage of the Iraq War back in September when the economy tanked, and I just figured the insurgents were wiped out because they were heavily invested in Lehman Brothers. - Stephen Colbert in Newsweek

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