Part of the reason the chemical attacks have drawn attention is because of the negative reaction to the use of chemical weapons in World War 1, which led to their use being banned in 1925 in the Geneva Protocol.
Worth a quick look since some are wondering why the use of chemical weapons seems to be treated differently than the use of conventional weapons. The US signed the protocol, which leads to one of the arguments the president is currently using: if we sign a treaty, we should enforce it.
