The thing about Syria is that the people really tried to rebel.

I really don't have time to write about this; the lobby at the shelter is about to close.

Here's my amateur foreign policy analysis:

-When you negotiate with a dictatorship of which no significant percentage of the population is rebelling, then you have to expect that the government will continue to operate the way that it always has until such time as you have established enough of a working relationship with that government that you have the influence to persuade toward positive change, preferably by example and/or (economic) incentive.   

-When a dictatorship is suppressing, with mass detention, torture and murder, a population that is willing to fight, you should help the population that wants to start a democracy. 

Here's a foreign policy question:

-China hasn't stopped its human rights abuses, has it?  What are we doing about that?