The Hill News

President George W. Bush deserves "some credit" for the last combat units leaving Iraq on Wednesday night, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said.

McCain, one of the foremost supporters of the war effort there, posted a late-night message on his Twitter account, which is followed by 1.7 million people:

Last American combat troops leave Iraq. I think President George W. Bush deserves some credit for victory.

The 2008 GOP presidential nominee's comments suggest that a political debate will iikely spring up in response to the troops' exit from the Middle Eastern country.

Reports Wednesday night indicated that the last combat brigade left in Iraq departed the country in the middle of the night, beginning the end of combat operations that lasted nearly seven-and-a-half years. 

The war, which began in 2003 under Bush, came to define much of his presidency. Bush drew many critics for carrying out the long war, which some said was unnecessary and launched on false pretenses.

But Bush received praise in 2007 for launching the troop surge and new counterinsurgency strategy, which helped neutralize insurgent groups operating in the country.