U.S., allies strike Syria after suspected chemical attack.
Trump joins Britain and France in ordering missile strikes against Syrian government

In an address to the nation Trump called the alleged chemical weapons use “the crimes of a monster.” Trump said the mandate for an allied attack was open-ended, but Pentagon chiefs later said the strikes would be repeated only if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad took further action that warranted a response.The proportional response was evidently calculated to keep Syria’s patrons, Russia and Iran, from retaliating.

When Syria’s civil war began in 2011, the U.N. and others tallied the numbers killed in the conflict. Seven years on, an increasingly complex war means the count has stopped.