The United States has launched a�smear campaign to �insult� and �degrade� Russia�s military in the wake of Moscow's anti-Daesh�airstrikes�in Syria, says an�American counter-terrorism analyst.

Scott Bennett, a former US Army psychological warfare officer, made the comments over�remarks by US defense officials who have suggested�Russia�s aircraft are�grounded in Syria due to their inability to�withstand the harsh environment.

An unnamed Pentagon official�said�a third of Russian fighter jets and half of its transport aircraft are assumed grounded in the Arab country, the USA Today reported Sunday.

Bennett told Press TV on Monday that statements like this �are examples of the psychological warfare campaign and a public relations campaign that is gearing up by the Pentagon�s incompetence, the keystone clowns if you will, against Russia.�

�The stories are completely faux in their design to manipulate the public in Europe, and the Americans,� he added.

�It is important to recognize the attempt to insult and degrade the Russian capability of flying missions is completely false because you simply can look at the facts and the targets that have been hit and the number of trips that have been engaged by the Russian aircraft,� he noted .

�They have done more in three weeks that the united states has done in over a year and any competent military person will understand that,� the analyst maintained. �They will all understand that the Russians are about to destroy terrorism whereas the West is obviously not.�

�So how Russia needs to react, of course, is to be very aggressive and very open and transparent and publicly state that the United States is engaging in a negative public relations campaign and that Russia is doing everything that it can� to preserve peace and stability in the Middle East, �where the United States is doing�the opposite,� Bennett noted.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="550"] A video grab taken from footage made available on the Russian Defense Ministry's website, shows an explosion after airstrikes by the Russian air force on a Daesh facility in the Syrian province of Idlib, October 15, 2015. (AFP photo)[/caption]

Russia has been pounding the positions of the Daesh Takfiri terrorists and other terror groups in Syria since September 30,�upon a request by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad�s government.

According to the head of the Russian General Staff's Main Operations Department, Colonel General Andrei Kartapolov, until October 16, the Russian air force had made 669 �combat sorties� hitting over 450 Daesh positions.

By Press TV