The idea of arming the Syrian rebels is being chatted up once again.  The debate will wander and focus in many theoretical directions. Yet essentially the decision will focus on one key pivot: is the goal a short-term or long-term victory?

The safe bet: short-term considerations will win out.

The U.N. proclamation that the one millionth Syrian refugee has crossed an international border adds to the swell of pressure for action. The drumbeat of “desperation” coming from various rebel leaders is increasing, playing on the guilt of some in the west.

So now there is some fudging in public and, no doubt, much nudging out of view.

The U.S. history of giving guns to the guys – a history that must include those times when weapons were NOT given – offers plenty of solid examples and guide points for Secretary of State John Kerry, pro-rebel members of Congress and the Obama administration.

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Bashar Assad, let me introduce you to Slobodan Milosevic.

Technically, you cannot shake his hand – at least today. Milosevic died in his cell in The Hague, after the nation that he led into war and ruin emerged to form a tentative democracy. The new Yugoslav leadership traded Milosevic for economic and political benefits with Europe; Milosevic was sent to trial and the country he believed could not exist without him said they could.

Perhaps, President Assad, you should take note.

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There were many dangers faced by reporters during the four-year Bosnia war. Gunfire. Freezing. Food poisoning. Checkpoints manned by drugged out crazies. Yet one fear stood out, and it was usually away from the fighting.

That was going to Zenica, a city in the central part of the area controlled by the Bosnian government. The danger was something new – and a harbinger of things to come. Zenica was the bastion of the radical Muslim extremists who came to Bosnia to help their beleaguered Muslim brothers – or at least, on paper that was the reason. The real reason, as we all learned, was to get a new beachhead in their effort to purify Islam and the world.  They quickly took over Zenica and make it clear that any outsiders, especially western media, were extremely unwelcome.

This less than pleasant memory rears back into the mind as reports continue to filter in about more and more “foreign fighters” entering the fray in Syria. That will certainly mean one thing: any resolution of the conflict in Syria will immediately become even more complicated – and any tentative peace that may stumble from a settlement will be constantly pockmarked by these elements.

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The world has found a way to strike back at Syrian President Bashar Assad: they have slapped travel sanctions on his London-born wife, Asma, to thwart her addiction to luxury shopping.

One year into Assad’s churning assault against various opposition groups, stopping his wife from shoping in Europe is one of the few things the EU was able to agree upon.

Assad already had travel and other sanctions placed on him since last May but he really was not planning to go anywhere. Some suggest that is part of the problem — he won’t leave. Now his mother and sister also face travel bans.

But for Asma, that may mean an end to her buying the Chanel dresses and Louboutin shoes she apparently craves, at least according to hacked emails that were made public.

To read the entire posting, please click here: http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2012/03/27/bad-assad-scarves/