Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday that one of the best way to combat terrorism in the future is to attack directly the education systems in countries and regions where Islam is taught “day in, day out.”
Blair made the comments Tuesday morning on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends.”
“The real problem is the education systems in these countries that are educating young people. My foundation works to counter the extremism being taught in these types of places,” said Blair. “This is the fundamental question and millions of kids are being taught this.”
“If you’ve got millions of young kids being taught nothing but the Quran from early in the morning until late in the afternoon every day, day in, day out, you are going to incubate some of this extremism,” said the former British Prime Minister.
Blair, who led the U.K. from 1997 to 2007, also spoke of the need for a broad coalition to combat ISIS and other terrorism groups, specifically in Africa.
“You need to build an alliance that deals with not just ISIS, but all these other groups as well, because by the way, if you get ISIS displaced in Syria, they may move into Libya and they could cause huge problems there as well. Boko Haram in Nigeria, they are getting financed and funded as a result of what’s coming down from Libya,” said Blair.
“We’re in for a long fight for a long period of time against radical Islamism and we need a strategy that’s put every together to defeat it,” said Blair.
The former Labour Party leader also told “Fox and Friends” he expects the British to join America in conducting airstrikes and to support the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
“The prime minister wants to make sure he has a vote that gets through this time. I think and believe Britain will be there with the U.S. Look, this is a big problem for us. So we’ve got to help shoulder the responsibility.”