Blame the West for what, exactly?

Well France and Britain gave the rebels weapons? It happened a while back.

Weapons to the right people and to the right group(s) would actually serve a multi-faceted role. One, they would allow smaller, less radical, less-organized groups to have a fighting chance against both the Assad regime and larger, more radical groups. Two, if used appropriately, it would stem the successes that al-Qaeda and other radical organizations have had. Three, in a scenario where a large portion of the rebel groups start fighting each other, it would give those groups with whom we are allied with a chance against those that we aren't. However, to think that they will give the weapons back is frankly stupid. Related: I think we (the US/West) should also be investing in the Kurds in Northern and Eastern Syria.

If they gave weapons to the right people then great but it usually ends up in the hands of the Al Qaeda scum.

That is a valid concern. Unfortunately, there is no real way to ensure that AQ will never get their hands on our weapons, but utilizing the CIA might mitigate that risk. For the lack of time to write up a huge wall, here are two articles that I think you'll find interesting: [url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/after-cw-deal-u.s.-must-keep-its-pledge-to-aid-the-syrian-opposition]This one deals with why the US should arm less-radical groups[/url]. I will admit that in some places, the article gets a bit tricky. The author is fixated on only helping the FSA, but it's widely known that several groups aligned to the FSA also fight alongside al-Qaeda. It should also be noted that tactical alliances doesn't necessarily mean a deep, ideological connection; the groups fighting with al-Qaeda could just be doing so for the sheer tactical advantage and not because they share the same visions and/or goals. This should be and probably is heavily vetted by several intelligence agencies. [url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-fractious-politics-of-syrias-kurds]This one is about how the Kurds share common interests with us[/url].