IT started as protest demonstrations, but it definitely escalated into a civil war. And the side fighting against Assad has a lot of people who would appear to be every bit as bad.

If the chemical weapons can't be got out of the picture the chance of them getting into the hands of such people is very great. If it hasn't in fact already happened. Achieving that seems pretty hopeless, but that should be the central aim for any kind of outside involvement that could be justified.