Bad Habit: US Blames Russia in Syria to Divert Attention From Kunduz Attack

Russia was essentially accused of "bombing wrong targets in wrong places," Ivan Petrov noted in a review for RIA Novosti, calling the move "banal but time-tested." It serves to distract attention from what could be an inconvenient truth for the US.

"Much-taunted American precision, reliability of the US military hardware and professionalism of personnel operating it have long appeared to be exaggerated," he observed. "The intelligence does not seem to be quite efficient either."

Petrov offers a list of tragic events supporting his view. Over the years, US forces "incorrectly" targeted weddings and funerals, markets and peaceful meetings. Moreover, Washington rarely took responsibility for numerous civilians killed as a result of its actions.

On October 3, US airstrikes on a Doctors Without Borders hospital killed more than 20 people, including 12 staff members, and wounded more than 30 people. Four days later Barack Obama apologized for the attack promising to make every effort to prevent the bombing of hospitals in the future.

The raid, condemned as a violation of the international humanitarian law, caused a firestorm worldwide.

The US military initially said that it came under fire but later backtracked and stated that Afghan forces requested aerial support because Taliban members were fighting from the hospital grounds.

The international humanitarian aid organization has repeatedly denied these claims and said no militants were present in the compound prior to the attack. No evidence has emerged to support the US stance on the issue.

Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders want an independent investigation to be conducted into the deadly attack but the US already ruled it out.