Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Stephen Colbert Wednesday night and took the opportunity to directly commend former President George W. Bush for his part in helping to usher in the end of combat operations in Iraq.
"Mr. President, thank you," Biden said of Bush during his interview in a "Colbert Report: Been There Won That" special. "You've honored these guys, you've honored these women, you've honored these troops. And I've known you your entire eight years as president. I've never known a time when you didn't CARE about happened. We disagreed on policy. But you deserve a lot of credit, Mr. President."
Asked why the Obama Administration hadn't explicitly said "we've won" the war in Iraq and had a subsequent victory parade, Biden explained that they'd shied away from using such terms because they hadn't yet fully accomplished their goals in the country.
"There's 50,000 troops still there," Biden said. "And until they're home, until we keep President Bush's commitment that he signed with the Iraqis that all the troops would be out of there by the end of next year -- this is a significant milestone, but we're not there yet."
Earlier in the show, Biden also appeared on set to hand out hot dogs to the returning veterans in the audience, which he explained as his only other constitutional duty beside "breaking ties in the Senate."
Watch Vice President Joe Biden on "The Colbert Report":