Crush IS now, says former British premier Tony Blair

Military intervention is needed to ensure Islamic State is “crushed”, says former British prime minister, Tony Blair.

Blair described the attacks in Brussels as “shocking”, but said such attacks would keep happening unless extremism was tackled.

Writing in the Sunday Times, he said that the roots of Islamism, including the immaturity of political systems and the exploitation of a genuine sense of injustice over the Palestinian issue, needed to be understood to be countered. Mr Blair said that a new strategy was needed to defeat extremism and this should include greater co-operation between intelligence agencies.

He also advocated an effective system of processing refugees to stop the security risk of uncontrolled flows of people across Europe, he said.

But he said that IS, also known as Isis, needed to be eliminated quickly. Mr Blair said: “We can use local allies in the fight, but they need equipment and where they need active, on-the-ground, military support from us, we should give it. The Americans are doing this now — at least to a degree and with effect. But to have allowed Isis to become the largest militia in Libya, right on Europe’s doorstep, is extraordinary. It has to be crushed.”

Mr Blair founded the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which provides practical support to counter religious conflict and extremism. He previously served as peace envoy to the Middle East, and works in eight African countries advising presidents.

He was Britain’s prime minister during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and is expected to come in for criticism in the official inquiry report into the Iraq war — the Chilcot report — when it is finally published.