Asked whether it is the policy of the U.S. government to seek a regime change in Iran and Syria, he answered mostly on Iran. He said of Iran, “in order to solve this problem, it’s very important for the U.S. to try all diplomatic means.” He said people ask him what’s the difference between Iran and Iraq. The answer he said is that “we tried all diplomatic means in Iraq.” We need to understand “the stakes of a nuclear or weaponized Iran.” At the G-8 summit, he said that he urged people, in the context of the Hezbollah crisis, “to imagine what this discussion would be like if the Iranians had a weapon.” “The first stage in doing something about it is to rally a group of nations to press Iran hard.” He said “the president is going to have to have patience.” “It’s very important for the American people to see the president try to solve problems diplomatically before resorting to military force.” “I owe it to their loved ones and I owe it to this country.”