As if to underscore Russia’s decision to initiate airstrikes against Islamic State on the territory of Syria as Western forces don’t appear up to the task, NATO jets unleashed a deadly barrage on a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Afghanistan.

No sooner had Vladimir Putin wrapped up his speech at the United Nations, where he roundly criticized the manner in which US-led forces have been trampling on the sovereignty of nation states in its global pursuit of terrorists, Russia opened a stunning aerial campaign against Islamic State fighters on the ground in Syria.