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Biden Gives George W. Bush Some Credit for Iraq Surge Success

1 year ago
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Tom Diemer
Tom Diemer
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Pressed for an answer and choosing his words carefully, Vice President Joe Biden gave credit to former President George W. Bush for the success of the 2007 "surge" of U.S. troops in Iraq, which Biden said arguably made possible a political transition and the recent withdrawal of American combat forces.

At first, Biden allowed only that President Obama in his Iraq speech Tuesday night had "acknowledged President Bush's contribution," PBS said. But when "NewsHour's" Margaret Warner asked for something more specifi on the role of the previous occupant of the White House, Biden said: "If you really go back and take a look at this, you can argue the surge made possible what was the most significant thing that occurred -- which was a political transition where we put over 100,000 Sunnis on the payroll -- the sons of Iraq.
Vice President Biden in Iraq
"General [David] Petraeus deserves a lot of credit and the last [Bush] administration."

Biden was interviewed Wednesday in Baghdad in the midst of his visit to mark the pullout of U.S. combat troops. However, 50,000 American military forces remain in the war-torn country in advisory and support roles, and the Iraqi government is in political turmoil.

Read Our Other Iraq coverage:

- Republican Reaction to Obama's Iraq Speech: Mostly Negative
- Obama in Oval Office Address: Iraq War Combat Mission Is Over
- Transcript of President Obama's Speech on Iraq
- Iraq Scorecard: The War So Far
- No Brass Bands When Troops Return Home From Iraq
- Jill Lawrence: What I Want to Hear From President Obama on Iraq -- Never Again

Biden and Obama, as Democratic senators, both opposed the surge in military muscle when the policy was implemented. Biden said Wednesday that if Republican leaders like Rep. John Boehner want to say, "the surge did this -- fine, fine." But he told NewsHour "the fact of the matter is we're not there yet. We're making significant progress. The only time success will be able to be declared is when the Iraqis form a government, and several years from now [when] they are in a position to maintain their own security, they are not a threat to their neighbors, and their economy is growing and prospering."
Filed Under: George W. Bush, Bush Administration, Barack Obama, Iraq, Joe Biden, Obama Administration, National Security, Military, David Petraeus
Tagged: dailyguidance, John Boehner, pbs newshour, PbsNewshour, surge
More articles from Tom Diemer »

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7 Comments

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rgkarasiewicz

Several batallions of American forces will still remain in Iraq indefinitely to secure the puppet government, and of course the oil.

September 01 2010 at 3:58 PM Report abuse -1 rate up rate down Reply
tnickerson08

Langs13: I guess you would call giving women the right to vote in Iraq a mistake? Maybe giving ALL children the right to attend school in Iraq a mistake? Giving liberty to an oppressed nation is a rightous thing and George Bush gave that to the people of Iraq.

September 01 2010 at 3:11 PM Report abuse +12 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to tnickerson08's comment
Dennis Wayne

It was the brave sons and daughters of the United states of America, who gave the Iraqis thier freedom.

September 01 2010 at 7:58 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
tnickerson08

Biden also claimed that Iraq should be split into three countries because Iraq would never come together politically?

September 01 2010 at 3:07 PM Report abuse +8 rate up rate down Reply
langs13

I'm glad you guys think the Iraq war was a good thing. Bin Laden would agree with you. Bush basically did exactly what Bin Laden wanted him to do and the result was exactly what Bin Laden wanted. To bankrupt America. Sept 8, 2008. Your country was officially bankrupt. TARP: 700 billion loan from China. Let's give Bush the credit he's due.

September 01 2010 at 1:47 PM Report abuse -17 rate up rate down Reply
langs13

Let's give Bush credit for the one thing he did right in Iraq. Considering he got everything wrong about the war.

September 01 2010 at 1:39 PM Report abuse -10 rate up rate down Reply
langs13

Lt's give Bush credit for wasting a trillion dollars. Republicans are more than willing to spend money to rebuild a foreign country, but not willing to spend money to rebuild America. That's called socialism. But a trillion for Iraq. No problem. What kind of America loving patriots are these people???

September 01 2010 at 1:31 PM Report abuse -14 rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to langs13's comment
cousinpookie54

The war in Iraq cost just over $700 billion in 7 years and created thousands of jobs compared to the trillion dollar stimulus bill in nearly 2 years that created only a handful of temporary jobs.

September 01 2010 at 2:12 PM Report abuse +11 rate up rate down Reply
ettu

Any numbers on the current "war of necessity?"

September 01 2010 at 4:14 PM Report abuse -6 rate up rate down Reply
mmprtnrs

So, Biden says "Iraq will be a success when they have a growing and prospering economy." That means Biden and Obama should stay away from Iraq, since we all are painfully aware of what these two gents know about building a "growing and prospering economy."

September 01 2010 at 1:15 PM Report abuse +9 rate up rate down Reply
langs13

Did he give any Bush credit for lying us into war and wasting a trillion dollars. Did he give him credit for having over 4500 soldiers killed for his lies. Did he give Bush credit for destroying millions of lives in Iraq. Lets give credit where credit is due.

September 01 2010 at 1:06 PM Report abuse -12 rate up rate down Reply
trb2244

How could he not give Bush credit? It's Bush's plan he has followed, and one of the few accomplishments he can cite for his administration. Notice, too, that Bush had the sense not to step up the war in Afghanistan.

September 01 2010 at 12:21 PM Report abuse +17 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to trb2244's comment
Tracy

yeah anyway! Biden gives some credit, how about ALL the credit! If it had been left to Obama/Biden we'd be there for another 50 years!

September 01 2010 at 12:40 PM Report abuse +11 rate up rate down Reply

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