Tony Blair: 'Ground troops are necessary to fight Islamic State - diplomacy will not defeat them'
Source: The Independent
Tony Blair has urged Britain not to rule out sending ground troops to combat the Islamic State (Isis), arguing air strikes are not enough to defeat the terrorist group.
In a 6,500 word essay published on his website, the former Prime Minister said that with the consent of Iraq and Syria and a broad international alliance including Arab countries, David Cameron could avoid the weaknesses of Western strategy after September 11th.
Mr Blair, whose political career was defined by his decision to follow America into war in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he fully accepted there is no appetite for ground engagement in the West but it may be necessary.
We have to fight groups like Isis, he wrote. 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...
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/tony-blair-ground-troops-are-necessary-to-fight-islamic-state--diplomacy-will-not-defeat-them-9747714.html
WhoWoodaKnew
(847 posts)Iraqi's do it. Or anyone but us.
cstanleytech
(26,080 posts)but other than that they need to deal with it themselves as best they can.
marmar
(76,982 posts)These war mongers never fight except for John McCain,
and he did not have a stellar career. He crashed planes
and got captured and that made him a hero.
Those who push for ground war should be the first to sign
up.
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)has talked about is stopping their funding and isolating them. As to ground troops - I am sorry to say this but we still after years have ground troops setting in the ME and we do not seem to have done much but put a temporary hold on the war.
The only kind of ground troops that will work are those from the ME. That is what he should be calling for.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)ReRe
(10,597 posts)CJCRANE
(18,184 posts)Why did Tony Blair get the job of "Middle East Peace Envoy"?
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)Lenomsky
(340 posts)rpannier
(24,304 posts)Come on Tony and get your gun
Report to General ....
DallasNE
(7,392 posts)In a guerrilla war it is about the minds and hearts rather than foreign troops on the ground. We had over 500,000 troops on the ground in Vietnam and the mission was a dismal, unmitigated disaster. Hand picked puppet leaders are the next major failing. Does Iraq still have the leadership to turn things around? I haven't read much about the new guy and that is not a good sign. ISIS has Saddam's old generals and they lead like Saddam led. Apparently Blair doesn't read history much and the role the failure of leadership plays out in these situations. But, then, for Blair to admit that would mean that he would have to admit that he was himself a failure at leadership.
Botany
(70,288 posts)R.Quinn
(122 posts)I'm getting really sick and tired of guys like this.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)Got WMD's Tony?
LiberalLovinLug
(14,153 posts)Fucking shut your yap you lying fucking poodle!
Not only that but he also steered the long and proud Labour Party from a peoples party to a corporate dog and mass murdering war criminals.
Even IF ground troops will eventually be necessary, he, Cheney, or any others in that criminal gang responsible for not only the 100,000+ violent deaths of Iraqi civilians in the first place, but also the rise of ISIS after destabilizing the region, looting it, creating enemies, and leaving....are NOT the ones to push for it. They should be silently sitting in jail cells.