Former President Bush to Gen. Dan Caine: ‘Thank God you are where you are’

Former President George W. Bush on Thursday lavished praise on Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine, amid the ongoing war with Iran .

“Thank God you are where you are, and we appreciate it,” Bush said to Caine during an event commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The former president, who was in office the day of the attacks, made the remarks while speaking with his former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from his presidential center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

A trained F-16 fighter pilot, Caine was among the pilots who patrolled Washington, D.C., airspace in the aftermath of 9/11 and later served in the Bush White House.

Now President Trump’s principal military adviser, Caine reportedly warned the president before the start of the Iran war that the U.S.’s limited stockpile of critical munitions and little to no support from allies would put military personnel in danger and hamper a large-scale operation.

And over the past few months, Caine has reportedly told other top Trump advisers that Washington needs to end the conflict soon as escalating the war via the U.S. military is likely to backfire.

Trump on Wednesday for the first time acknowledged that the deeply unpopular war, now in its seventh month, will not be resolved until after the November midterm elections.

“I think the war is going to end immediately after the election,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews en route to the GOP midterm convention in Dallas.

He accused Iran of trying to meddle in the elections, saying “they’re desperate to try and affect the election so that we can get a nice, weak group of people in there, and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon.”

Trump has also pressured Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and remains adamant that the regime cannot obtain a nuclear weapon. But the conflict is at a stalemate after multiple attempts at peace talks have failed.

The president has also repeatedly asserted all options remain on the table to push Tehran, including further military action.