Blair: Airpower Alone Not Enough To Defeat IS

Tony Blair has said Britain should not rule out sending forces into Syria and Iraq to counter the threat posed by Islamic State.

In a 6,500-word essay, the former prime minister said that while no desire existed for ground engagement in the region, airpower alone would not be enough to defeat the group.

"We have to fight groups like ISIS," he said. "There can be an abundance of diplomacy, all necessary relief of humanitarian suffering, every conceivable statement of condemnation which we can muster.

"But unless they're accompanied by physical combat, we will mitigate the problem but not overcome it.

"Airpower is a major component of this to be sure, especially with the new weapons available to us. But - and this is the hard truth - airpower alone will not suffice.

"If possible, others closer to the field of battle, with a more immediate interest, can be given the weapons and the training to carry the fight.

Tony Blair: 'The enemy we're fighting is fanatical'

"I accept fully there is no appetite for ground engagement in the West. But we should not rule it out in the future if it is absolutely necessary."

The militant Islamist group has made rapid territorial gains across the region and released graphic videos depicting the beheading of two US journalists and British aid worker David Haines.

Mr Blair warned that any solution to the threat posed by the extremist group would involve casualties. 

"Because the enemy we're fighting is fanatical, because they are prepared both to kill and to die, there is no solution that doesn't involve force applied with a willingness to take casualties in carrying the fight through to the end," he said.

France and the US have launched airstrikes on IS positions

The US and France have already launched airstrikes against IS targets, and the UK has not ruled out joining the bombing campaign.

He said the lessons learned from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq had improved Western forces' "capacity and capability" to respond to the threat of IS and similar groups.

"To those who say that after the campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq we have no stomach for such a commitment, I would reply the difficulties we encountered there are in part intrinsic to the nature of the battle being waged," he said.

Former taxi driver Alan Henning is being held by the group

"And our capacity and capability to wage the battle effectively are second to none in part because of our experience there."

Former taxi driver Alan Henning, from Manchester, is currently being held hostage by IS after he was kidnapped in the Syrian town of al Dana while volunteering with a humanitarian aid convoy.

The group has threatened to kill Mr Henning and warned Britain and America not to get involved in another Middle East war.

:: Watch Tony Blair live on Sky News Tonight at 7.15pm - live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 132 and Freesat channel 202.

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