"The Chessmaster: Salem's entire methodology revolves around careful manipulation, using pawns to covertly act and cause destruction and chaos, while leaving her motives and even existence nearly impossible to determine. As a result, humans tend to blame each other for her manipulations, and Salem herself outright says that she divides and breaks apart humanity to weaken them. As Qrow puts it:
Qrow: Salem's smart. She works from the shadows, using others to get what she wants, so when it comes time to place the blame, we can only point at each other. She's trying to divide us, humanity, and so far she's done a pretty damn good job.