Blair calls for ground war against ISIL

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that in order to defeat ISIL in Iraq and Syria, the UK must be ready to send in ground troops. Admitting to having ‘underestimated’ the challenges posed in Iraq, Blair said it was not possible to defeat the group through air strikes alone, called for ‘proper ground war’, but backtracked to say British troops could act in a support role. He said: "We underestimated profoundly the forces that were at work in the region and that would take advantage of the change once you topple the regime. That's the lesson. The lesson is not actually complicated, the lesson is simple - it's that. "It's that when you remove a dictator, out come these forces of destabilisation - whether al-Qeada on the Sunni side or Iran and its militia on the other side."