Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair says U.S. airstrikes won’t work — they won’t serve as a standalone measure to beat Islamic State terrorists.
He made his views known in an essay on his Faith Foundation website. In it, he wrote that the West needs to consider the idea of adding in ground troops to help with the fight, The Associated Press reported.
“You cannot uproot this extremism unless you go to where it originates from and fight it,” Mr. Blair wrote, AP reported.
So far, both the United States and France have kicked off airstrikes aimed at taking out the terrorists.
But Mr. Blair says more is needed.
“Unless they’re accompanied by physical combat, we will mitigate the problem but not overcome it,” he wrote.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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