Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal hit the late-night talk show circuit on Tuesday with an appearance on “The Daily Show,” where he discussed gun control, his experiences serving in Afghanistan, and the “addictive” nature of the military.
Host Jon Stewart kicked off the interview by touching on a topic that has been under much scrutiny following the deadly shootings in Aurora, Colo., and more recently in Newtown, Conn. – gun control.
McChrystal, who has handled a veritable artillery of advanced weaponry on the battlefield during his military career, took a decidedly different tone when it came to guns landing in civilian hands.
“I don’t want them on our streets, I don’t want them in our schools,” McChrystal said firmly. “I don’t think that most people are prepared to carry them.”
The retired four-star general also fondly recalled his experiences serving in Afghanistan, regaling Stewart with anecdotes about the country’s lucrative and highly organized poppy and opium trade.
“So the basic idea is that you’re living in a land where the drug dealers are the reliable workers,” Stewart quipped.
McChrystal is now a Senior Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. He’s been out of the service for over two years, and did not talk about the Rolling Stone "runaway general" profile that led to his resignation. But he confided to Stewart that he still misses the mission, and the soldiers.
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“The military is very addictive,” McChrystal said by way of explanation. “The teamwork, the sense of purpose, the sense of ‘we can do something together.’ And I think that most of the service people who leave miss that more than anything else.”
To see more of McChrystal’s interview, check out the clip below, courtesy of Comedy Central:
