Vladimir Putin's America-Friendly Propaganda About Fighting Terror Just Suffered A Big Blow Putin tries to present himself as the best bet against ISIS. In reality, he's helped it thrive.  – Huffington Post

The Pentagon is combating reports that the US military-industrial complex, specifically the Pentagon and CIA in concert with allies like Saudi Arabia, created and promoted ISIS.

When Russia began to bomb ISIS last year, it announced that the Pentagon's considerable bombing campaign had done little to uproot ISIS.

In fact, one Russian general speculated that under cover of bombing ISIS, the Pentagon was actually bombing Syrian infrastructure to make it more difficult for Assad to successfully defend against ISIS.

The Russian bombing was the beginning of the end for ISIS in Syria. Fighters abandoned positions and had to flee outside of Syria.

Fighting continues. But the reality of the Russian attacks made it difficult for the Pentagon to answer charges that it hadn't been serious about its ballyhooed bombing of ISIS.

And this also had a chilling effect on US media reports regarding anti-ISIS actions.

Not being able to adequately answer Russian charges, US media simply kept quiet on the subject.

But through RT, Russia has a significant voice on the 'Net and the charges of Russia's military received wide distribution despite US media dampening.

Now it seems, the Pentagon is ready to strike back in this ongoing "blame game."

More from the HuffPo article (co-authored with the Berggruen Institute):

… Putin's message resonates in an America that believes most of the chaos in the Middle East is a result of U.S. actions. His view is especially popular among Americans skeptical of the elites who shape U.S. foreign policy.

… Presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the anti-establishment stars of 2016, have both bashed U.S. policies for enabling the rise of the self-styled Islamic State.

Trump has directly accused President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Clinton of "creating ISIS," implying the group grew from Obama's policy of supporting nationalist Syrian rebels opposed to dictator Bashar Assad.

But by focusing on only those reasons for ISIS's success, critics of American foreign policy are adopting the same view they ascribe to Clinton and other interventionists: that the U.S. is responsible for everything.