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
No persons identified in this episode.
This episode hasn't been transcribed yet
Help us prioritize this episode for transcription by upvoting it.
Popular episodes get transcribed faster
Other episodes from Today, Explained
Transcribed and ready to explore now
AI Video Killed the Video Star
06 Jun 2025
Today, Explained
Baby’s first gene edit
05 Jun 2025
Today, Explained
The white gold rush
02 Jun 2025
Today, Explained
How Gen Z found religion
01 Jun 2025
Today, Explained
What Bill Belichick’s relationship tells us
30 May 2025
Today, Explained
All eyes back on Gaza
29 May 2025
Today, Explained