Tony Blair: There will 'undoubtedly' be need for ground troops against ISIS

Tony Blair: There will 'undoubtedly' be need for ground troops against ISIS

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Sunday that the nascent offensive against ISIS "will evolve over time" and that it will certainly need to involve ground troops at some point. However he said the preference would be for local forces — not U.S. or other foreign troops — to wage the battle on the front lines, so long as they're up to the task.

"There will undoubtedly be over time a need to hit ISIS not simply through an aerial campaign but also on the ground," he said on CNN. "And the question will be: Can those people, if they're supported locally, can they do that job or will we have to supplement that?" --Jon Terbush

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.