Will strikes deter Assad from using chemical weapons?
The US, the UK and France launch air strikes on Syria, targeting suspected chemical facilities.
In what is the biggest military action against President Bashar al-Assad since the start of Syria’s war seven years ago, the US, the UK and France have bombed multiple government facilities.
The air strikes targeted a research centre outside the capital, Damascus, and two suspected chemical weapons storage sites near the city of Homs.
The action was in response to an alleged chemical attack on civilians in the town of Douma last week.
The Syrian government claims to have shot down many of the more than a hundred missiles launched – and in Damascus people celebrated on the streets, honking their car horns in a show of defiance.
Russia says the strikes are an act of aggression and warns of consequences.
But what does this mean for the war in Syria? And will the strikes stop chemical attacks against civilians?
Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault
Guests:
Alexey Khlebnikov – Middle East specialist at Russian International Affairs Council
Rami Khouri – senior fellow and professor of public policy at the American University of Beirut
Joshua Landis – director at the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma