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

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.

"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."