Stewart hits Petraeus over US navy advanced: Misplaced wars and 'Pentagon acquired a increase'

Comic and political commentator Jon Stewart pushed again towards the U.S. military-industrial advanced whereas talking with former CIA director and retired Gen. David Petraeus in an interview for Stewart’s Apple TV+ show. 

“It appears to me like we misplaced 20 years in Afghanistan, 20 years in Iraq, and the Pentagon acquired a increase,” Stewart says on “The Drawback with Jon Stewart.” 

“They acquired 50 billion extra {dollars} than they even requested for,” he continued, referring to the Protection Division receiving an extra $58 billion for navy initiatives past what was requested throughout this fiscal yr. 

Petraeus responded that the rise in protection funding was not due to the expertise of the U.S. navy in the course of the wars however a results of “a return of nice energy rivalries and the necessity to rework the drive.” 

He mentioned the safety challenges going through the nation at the moment are extra advanced and extra vital than any that the U.S. has confronted for the reason that finish of the Chilly Struggle within the early Nineteen Nineties. 

“Look, if we don’t do it, another person will,” Petraeus mentioned. 

He mentioned China represents the “largest plate” for the U.S. to maintain monitor of, however different nations like North Korea and Russia additionally pose threats. 

Petraeus mentioned the U.S. may have continued to “handle” the state of affairs in Afghanistan however not win or clear up it. He mentioned doing so may need been a greater path than the withdrawal from the nation that has allowed widespread starvation to afflict the Afghan inhabitants and prevented many Afghan ladies from attending faculty. 

“Is that for us to determine for individuals in different nations? These aren’t chess items to be moved round,” Stewart responded. 

He mentioned the U.S. has had “sufficient hassle” caring for its personal individuals, referring to some issue that Congress had final yr in passing a invoice that expanded well being care protection for veterans uncovered to burn pits, which have been used to eliminate waste on navy bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Stewart was vocal in criticizing some Republican senators who opposed it. The invoice ultimately was handed, and President Biden signed it into legislation. 

Stewart mentioned the nations the place burn pits have been used will “bear the scars” of them, as they induced poisonous supplies to get into the soil, air and other people. 

“We don’t ever reckon with the true actuality of our intellectualized workout routines in stability and democracy with the individuals on the bottom,” he mentioned.