Maybe I misunderstand him, but I think this joke is more at the expense of Obama, his distortion of the military, and his destructive desire to fight on the wrong side, than it is at the expense of our troops.
my bet is that coles political postition is relatively left of center...from what Ive been able to gather, neither the left NOR the Right wants any boots on the ground over in al qaida country...so you may be right.