Stephen Colbert has been teasing his audience with the possibility of a trip to the middle East for weeks on The Colbert Report. Today, he finally arrived Iraq where he will broadcast four episodes of his TV show next week.

“The USO counts this as military service, right? I might want to run for office some day,” said Colbert, when he arrived at Baghdad’s Camp Victory this morning.

Comedy Central announced today they will air four episodes of The Colbert Report from Iraq Monday through Thursday (June 8 – June 11) under the banner “Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando.”

Among Colbert’s guests for the four-episode run, which will be taped in front of an audience of more than 4500 troops, will be Barham Salih, deputy prime minister of Iraq. The show will also provide an intimate look at Saddam Hussein’s Al Faw Palace. Gov. Sarah Palin will also be making an appearance which she confirmed herself when she let slip last month that she would be making a taped appearance on show.

The USO and Comedy Central teamed up for the trip to entertain the U.S. troops and give American audiences a greater appreciation of the soldiers’ efforts in Iraq.

“All jokes aside, if there’s anything I want my viewers to walk away with, it is not only a good laugh, but also a greater appreciation for our men and women in uniform,” Colbert said. “They work hard and deserve the best.”

Over the past few months, Colbert has focused several bits around his trip to “the Persian Gulf,” but because of security concerns he would not disclose when he was going or where he would be landing.

The trip couldn’t have been timed better considering  Conan O’Brien just took over The Tonight Show which also airs at 11:30 and could potentially tap into some of Colbert’s younger audience.