President Trump and United States allies bombed chemical weapons facilities in Syria on Friday. The attacks came in response to President Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons on his own people. Vox’s Alex Ward explains why the United States escalated its involvement and why the world sees chemical weapons differently from conventional ones. *********************** For an explainer on how Syria got here, check out our previous episode "It's never too late to understand the war in Syria": https://art19.com/shows/today-explained/episodes/d2c4b553-b2e5-4549-85e3-2de05a45064e Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices