BBC producer Riam Dalati dropped a bombshell on the Syrian crisis this week. “After almost 6 months of investigations, I can prove without a doubt that the Douma Hospital scene was staged,” the journalist tweeted, adding that while the chlorine use is yet to be confirmed, Dalati claims that everything else about the attack was fabricated.

The revelation, or the “culmination of this theater of absurd” in Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova's word, is such an embarrassment that almost all American mainstream media, preening fighters for fair and balanced reporting, have kept silent on the issue as of press time.

Western hypocrisy is laid bare. The U.S.-led alliance, on the one hand, has been sparing no effort in preaching “democratic” goals. For decades, under the disguise of democracy, it has been basking in its role as a trans-boundary judge making carping comments on other countries' human rights conditions and acting as the world police in stepping into their domestic affairs.

On the other, it is wantonly trampling on the basic rights of ordinary Syrian people and the dignity of international law. It is pouring dirty water on Bashar al-Assad's authority the same way it did to the Iraqi government in 2003, which dragged the entire Middle East region into an abyss of miseries.

The traditional bastion of democracy is ironically using democracy as a tool for its own gains at the sacrifice of the innocent. Accusing Assad of using chemical weapons on civilians, the U.S. coalition is attempting to arouse the international community's hostility against the Syrian government and woo more external military actions against it, Li Weijian, a professor at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, told CGTN.

The past few years have seen heavy investment by the U.S. in the Middle East, most of which is aimed at uprooting the Assad administration. But years of efforts have only ended in Assad's return. The Arab League reportedly tends to re-acknowledge the Syrian government; the United Arab Emirates reopened its embassy in Damascus in December 2018.

Everything is blowing in Assad's favor months after the president raised the national flag over the city of Deraa, the last stronghold of non-jihadist rebels. This is unacceptable for the United States and its coalition forces.

Even though the Trump administration announced its withdrawal from Syria after feeling the pinch to sustain its military presence there, it is not reconciled to Assad's regaining control of the country, Li said. Hence, it is straining every nerve to kick him out of the region – with staged footage this time. This, according to Li, is also an attempt to pacify U.S. allies.

Immediately after gruesome images of “gassed corpses” went viral on Western mainstream media, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom bombed the Syrian government's facilities and bases without the UN Security Council's permission.

This is how Western countries are implementing their “democratic” commitments – dropping bombs on the innocent for their private geopolitical gains. More ironically, Western media, while keeping silent on politicians' dirty tactics, are always ready to trumpet their alleged humanitarian aid to civilians.

The revelation on the fabricated chemical attack is an alarm for the West that it will only become a butt of the joke if it insists on using such dirty tactics for selfish gains.