David Cameron rejects Tony Blair's call for 'proper ground war' against Isis
The Prime Minister acknowledged the strategy not to send in ground troops made the fight against Isis more difficult
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Your support makes all the difference.David Cameron has rejected Tony Blair's call to commit ground troops to the battle against Isis.
The Prime Minister insisted the UK had the "right policy" of participating in air strikes against Isis in Iraq and Syria while offering support to fighters on the ground.
Mr Cameron acknowledged the strategy would "take time" to bear fruit and said the decision by Western nations not to send in ground troops made the fight against Isis more difficult.
However, he rejected Mr Blair's suggestion the Government had not been honest with voters about what would be needed to defeat the Islamist terror group.
Speaking at the G7 summit in Japan, Mr Cameron said: "I think we are being very straight about this, because we are saying this is going to take time and it is difficult for the very reason that we are not putting in Western ground troops.
"We are working with the Iraqi security forces, we are working in Syria with moderate opposition and Kurdish forces and the rest of it. This takes time.
"So I accept it does take time, because you need to build the capacity on the ground, but in the end I think that is the right answer. I think we've got the right policy."
Earlier this week, Mr Blair insisted a "proper ground war" was needed to defeat Isis.
"There is no way of defeating these people without defeating them on the ground. Air strikes are not going to defeat Isis, they have got to be tackled on the ground," he said.
To defeat Isis "you are going to have to go and wage a proper ground war against them," the former Prime Minister said.
He added: "We are not being honest with our public if we are saying it is possible to defeat these people without making the commitment to defeat them and to do what it takes to defeat them.
"In my view, defeating them is absolutely fundamental because if we don't defeat them they are going to come and attack us here. This is not someone else's fight, it is our fight as well."
Additional reporting by PA
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