Three high-tech ways to restrict arms flow in Syria and one reason it probably won't happen

This week ISIS fighters in Syria found themselves facing a formidable military force: The U.S. Navy. Air strikes targeted oil installations, checkpoints, compounds and training grounds in northern and eastern Syria. But those strikes aren't the only way that the U.S. has become more deeply involved in the region. Congress has officially backed U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to train and arm moderate Syrian rebels. There's one weapon in particular that the Syrian rebels are asking the U.S. for: portable, shoulder-fired missile systems called MANPADS.

At this point the Pentagon hasn't handed over those weapons. History shows doing so could be risky. Right now ISIS is controlling tanks the U.S. supplied to the Iraqi army. In Afghanistan, U.S.-supplied weapons ended up in the hands of the Taliban. But could there be a technological fix that would make arming rebel groups less risky? It's important to note that this technology exists, but the U.S. has not yet put it to use.