Hello and welcome back to Rui Thinking. I am Yang Rui.

A war of propaganda is nothing new if one looks at what the Nazis did prior to and during the Second World War to justify their wartime atrocities. It is a difficult comparison with the pre-emptive missile strikes against Syria to punish the Assad government on charges of using chemical weapons. Fakes, fallacies and fiction do mislead. That is why good journalism has to help clarify the White Helmets and its nasty role in compromising the principle of good journalism.

"The White Helmets" won the 89th Academy award for the best short documentary. What members of the white helmets, an NGO in Syria, did was set up a makeshift studio and produce fictional pictures on atrocities denouncing the Assad government. I have no comments on Assad, who has been condemned multiple times by the West, their agents and by his tribal rivals.

ISIL soldiers pretended to be angel volunteers saving innocent people during the daytime through the camouflage of white helmets but returned to killing when night fell.

Children and their parents are coercively used as instruments for wartime propaganda. Some international war correspondents hurried to interview these sources of information. Tears were generated quickly, and soon shells were dropped by angry Western allies.

I have no interest in the bloody sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiites, or an alleged proxy war between Russia and the US. I am aware of the domestic wrangling between President Trump and the establishment. We note his desperation to divert attention or to seek campaign victory in the midterm elections. I understand the anger of the British government in the punishment of Moscow due to the suspicious use of military nerve gas in Salisbury. The issue of why in both cases Russia has been denied participation in an independent international investigation did cause consternation.

Is this a repeat of a Cold War? What is the driving force behind it? Are we living in a post-truth world where rumors are ideologically motivated to justify a self-fulfilling prophecy? What is the role of a formidable military industrial complex? Tons of questions remain about the fable of exceptionalism.

Now, let us take a close look at why China chose to take sides with Russia in the UN Security Council. There is no doubt about geopolitical implications when China, a rising major economic and digital power, starts to be antagonized when President Trump gets surrounded by hawks like Peter Navarro and John Bolton. But, back in 2011, the UN resolution 1973 was violated by the US-led military intervention in Libya to oust and kill Gaddafi. The US paid a heavy price as its Ambassador Stevens was killed in Bengazi. Why did we have this mess and tragedy when the UN mandate only aimed to separate government forces from the opposition by establishing a no-fly zone?

China and Russia have since decided to draw a red line to prevent the abuse of UN resolutions. This time around, China encourages a thorough, inclusive and independent international investigation. The integrity of the independent investigation should not be compromised by a simple repeat of the flawed intelligence reports that led to the 2003 Iraq war.

The fabrication of atrocities by a dishonest Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Assembly in exile, had been accepted quickly by the Bush Administration. This remains a wakeup call. We don’t underestimate the impact of propaganda in times of geopolitical rivalry or even in the name of fighting terrorism. We are genuinely worried that truth will be the first casualty in domestic politics or geopolitical competitions.

Most NGOs are seriously committed to humanitarian tasks, but there is obviously a ragtag media agenda and a clumsy crusade in Syria by a coalition of the willing.

I am Yang Rui. I'll see you next time. Goodbye.

(Yang Rui is the anchor of CGTN’s Dialogue.)