The Independent British daily assessed Saturday that the U.S. may be compelled to act publicly or secretly in concert with President Bashar al-Assad in order to fight off the ISIL advancement.

The Independent British daily assessed Saturday that the U.S. may be compelled to act publicly or secretly in concert with President Bashar al-Assad in order to fight off the advancement of the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) which threatens to take all or part of Aleppo and to establish complete dominance over the anti-government gunmen.

"The US has already covertly assisted the Assad government by passing on intelligence about the exact location of jihadi leaders through the BND, the German intelligence service," the daily said in an article citing a source.

"This may explain why Syrian aircraft and artillery have been able on occasion to target accurately rebel commanders and headquarters," it added.

"The question of possible US military action in Syria, such as air strikes, jumped to the top of political agenda on Thursday when the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, General Martin Dempsey, said: “Can they [ISIL] be defeated without addressing that part of the organisation that resides in Syria? The answer is no,” The Independent article read.

Chas Freeman, the former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told The Independent that General Dempsey was pointing out that Isis (ISIL) straddles the Iraq-Syrian border and there should be a consistent policy towards it on both sides of the divide.

"General Dempsey “did not spell out the implications of that but, to me, they point in the direction of calling it off with Assad. It might also imply the sharing of intelligence with the opponents of Isis (ISIL), even those from whom we ourselves are estranged. Odder things have happened in the Middle East,”" Freeman told the daily.

It added that the most pressing issue in Syria now is not the elimination of ISIL, but preventing its expansion after it drove out al-Nusra Front from the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor on the Euphrates.

The newspaper claimed that "the policy of the US, Britain and their allies in the region over the last three years has been to support “moderate” Syrian rebels who are supposed to fight Isis (ISIL) and other jihadists as well as the Assad government in Damascus."

It also believed that the Western-backed Free Syrian Army is increasingly weak and marginalized while other armed groups such as al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham and the Islamic Front have been unable to halt the ISIL assault.

"Air strikes are not the only way in which the US, Britain and their allies among neighbouring states could weaken and isolate Isis," The Independent said, "but in doing so they would necessarily undermine other rebel groups. Key to the growth of Isis and, in particular, the import of thousands of foreign fighters has been the use of Turkey as a point of entry.