Tom LoBianco: McCain: Russian airstrikes target CIA-backed rebels. In: edition.cnn.com. CNN, abgerufen am 1. Oktober 2015 (englisch): „Their initial strikes were against the individuals and the groups that have been funded and trained by our CIA, in a credible flaunting of any kind of cooperation or effort to conceal what (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's priority is -- and that is, of course, to prop up (Syrian President) Bashar Assad“