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Press TV has conducted an interview with Randy Short, political commentator from Washington, to discuss the Western support for militants in Syria.

- Mr. Mouracadeh [the other guest of the program] says that they were never supporting the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad to begin with. So, there is no way there could be an about-face. What is your take, sir?

- Well, he did not speak one word of truth. The United States, Great Britain and its proxies have done everything they can to destroy the legitimate government of Syria - bringing people from Libya, having missiles and all sorts of things brought in.

In fact, part of what happened in Benghazi is the Americans working with others to send man and weapons from Libya to send in these mercenaries to murder people in Syria. Millions if not of hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent in almost the last three years to destroy Syria.

It did not do anything. If he wants to talk about where the US and Britain have not done anything, let’s look at Gaza and the West Bank. Let’s look at what has happened to the Palestinians who are suffering from genocide. That is where they have not done anything…

[In response to the other guest of the program] ...we are talking about Syria but we are talking about where somebody did not do something and you did not tell the truth. So I do not mind if you do not get angry.

They are being funded. The Free Syrian Army, the Syrian National Coalition, is funded by the US. They met with them. You are trying to say they did not? I have not read the news? I have been reading the news for three years. I am very well informed.

Turkey is working with the United States and Great Britain to bring down al-Assad. That is no mistake. They have been doing it all along...

They (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) have the capacity to destabilize Syria. Yes, they do. They did that with the chemical weapons that they had blamed on the al-Assad government. They do have the capacity to destabilize and they are destabilizing. You are trying to tell me that the money that Prince Bandar and the others are taking is not creating chaos in Iraq and in other countries as well as Syria, mainly? Come on! Let’s just be honest about that.

I am talking about the same thing. I agree with you. They cannot control but you said they could not do anything. And I am saying they can destabilize and they are doing that. Well, they can. But they are certainly destroying the secular nationalist Arab state that is there.

- Dr. Short, with the situation of the group that is called the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, tell me the effects of the role that this group is having on Syria and the region.

You just brought up an important point as far as what they are doing in destabilizing and having a major effect on Iraq, especially this year of 2013. In general, what is their role in Syria right now and the possible effects on the region and beyond?

- It is highly negative. When they attack the Kurds, they create a situation that is highly flammable because you have a Kurdish population in Syria, in Turkey, in Iraq, in Iran.

We do not know how that is going to impact a situation in eastern Turkey. We do not know how that is going to play out in Syria. We also know when they attack and kidnap Christians, this is very threatening. We have no idea if their partners wish to do the same things in Lebanon. We have no idea when you set the motion of killing and violence and lawlessness, how that may impact the region. Nobody really knows.

[In response to the other guest of the program] ... you are in Lebanon. You should want stability after they had that long civil war there. It is very relevant. And a lot of what you said is not only dishonest... Yes, you are a Christian in Lebanon. So, what has happened to you? Are you the type that likes Shatila and Sabra? You do not care. It is obvious. I know that you do not care. I can tell that you do not care. It is obvious. And not only do you not care, you care enough to not tell the truth to the world people who are watching this... They are killing people. They are slaughtering people in certain villages.

- Dr. Short, with the situation now we are looking at more and more of a clash between Washington and Saudi Arabia, it appears at least that Washington now and also London have actually said that they would not continue their aid into at least northern Syria because of extremist elements -as they call them- taking place.

However, we know that Saudi Arabia is very much supporting these extremist elements. Are we looking at a clash now between Riyadh and Washington or exactly how do you see this taking place? What is it that is taking place?

- Saudi Arabia – or Fraudi Arabi, some people call it - they have fallen on their sword. They were given a period of time to try to get rid of this government in Syria. They were given the support.

I guess there is some major animus between Riyadh and Damascus and they have failed. And now it has become a messy situation because there was a timeline to take Syria out within say a year or two. This has failed. And it has therefore forced the United States and Britain to try new machinations for how they are going to handle the Iran game, which I believe they wish to have a different relationship - possibly good - but I have doubts.

…part of what was supposed to happen was Syria. It was supposed to be out of the way to further isolate and insulate the Islamic Republic of Iran. And it has failed.

So now Saudi Arabia is in the dark house because they cannot handle their own domestic situation. They have got a mess in Bahrain and all the other places that they fund people doing these things. And it has just made a mess.

So you have Bandar’s maniacal Wahabis failing to achieve policy objectives and as a result, Washington and London wanting to at least curry some sense of civility with the Muslim world. They want to distance themselves from the extreme elements of Saudi foreign policy.

But I believe they are still in bed together. They may not want to have AIDS but they are still sleeping with the infected person.

- Dr. Short, Mr. Mouracadeh is talking in Lebanon and referring to Hezbollah. I want to look at this situation because basically he is saying that al-Qaeda elements pose no problem or no threat to just certain entities that they are actually targeting.

But what we have seen in Syria is that all entities have been targeted whether they have been Sunni, whether they have been Shia, whether they have been Alawites, whether they have been secular, they have all been targeted by these extremist elements.

Tell me about how do you see the situation of these al-Qaeda elements if they are gaining more control in the region. Who are they the biggest threat to? Is it just certain groups or in general, could it be very destructive for the region?

- It is very destructive and destabilizing for the region. For example, you only need one bombing. When Hariri was blown up, the different parties said how it happened, some said the Israelis had something to do with it, some said the Syrians had something to do with it.

Lebanon has not been quite the same since Hariri. One person was blown up. Now if someone suggests that lots and lots of bombs all over Lebanon will not have a major impact on that country as well as the region, it is not thinking in the large terms.

Any instability is too much. The people need peace in order to have a normal life to have trade. If you look at what has already happened, these people destabilizing Syria have made millions of refugees. That will be a problem. That will be a problem because the land is not producing food. There would be hunger. We have really no idea whether it is post...

[In response to the other guest of the program] ...In fact, Assad’s father stabilized Lebanon, in case you have forgotten that. So, let us be real. The post-conflict even when we have peace, the instability that has been caused by the last three years...

It is very simple. When people destroy the infrastructure and the ability to produce, this will create poverty even when we get to a post-conflict period, which will cause major problems. Lebanon is already feeling the pressure of the influx of almost three quarters of a million Syrians living there. So we have no idea how much, we have not even begun to see the impact of the instability caused by these wannabe Muslim Takfiris.