Indeed, the elephant in the room is Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Both have a significant interest in the removal of the Ba&#x27;athist government from Syria, and they have both expended significant resources in achieving this goal (officially or otherwise).<p>Resources which Isil has benefited from handsomely, and in fact the only reason Turkey and the KSA are currently engaging Isil directly is because of the domestic threat posed by homegrown Isil cells. While the West is equally guilty of this abject laziness and callousness, Turkey and the KSA have contributed far more to the global jihadi movement than any other organization since Isil announced independence in June 2014.