We can define a target set that we want to take out in the name of delaying Iran's nuclear development, and we're perfectly capable of taking out that target set.

No one at a senior level was willing to push Iran on diplomacy. Was there at least a chance that we could have gotten something going? Yes, there was a chance.

There is now more energy behind the diplomacy than was usually the case in the first term.

Since the second term started, I think they've been moving toward an undeclared policy of regime change, as long as it doesn't require too much effort by the United States. It's regime change on the cheap.

For the first term of his presidency, the Bush administration had a long list of complaints about Syria that got longer after Iraq.

As long as [the family members] are not trying to act against him, it will be hard to pull off a successful coup. That doesn't mean people may not try, but it'd be hard to pull off as long as they're in his corner.