Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair caused a bit of a stir over the weekend when he said in an interview that "many millions" of Muslims hold beliefs that are "incompatible with the modern world." To combat this, Blair said, western nations should create an anti-terror force and defeat ISIS.
Rejecting arguments that Isis is simply "tens of thousands of brainwashed crazies," he continued: "[Isis] does not seek dialogue but dominance. It cannot therefore be contained. It has to be defeated."
To mitigate against such attacks, the ex-PM argued for "active on-the-ground military support" for Arab armies, stating that Isis "have to be crushed."
He also called for the creation of a pan-national anti-terror force, saying: "We must build military capability able to confront and defeat the terrorists wherever they try to hold territory. This is a challenge for the West."
Reactions to Blair's comments were quite varied. On the r/WorldNews subreddit, many users claiming to be ex-Muslims were quick to defend Blair, and on r/Islam, the top comment on a thread discussing the comments defended Blair as well. (On Reddit, users can "upvote" useful content and "downvote" things that are not helpful.)
Meanwhile, others described Blair as being racist or politically incorrect:
#TonyBlair: Millions of Muslims are 'fundamentally incompatible with modern world'. https://t.co/B9fkYXD0Qo True, but politically incorrect
— Tarek Fatah (@TarekFatah) March 27, 2016
Were Blair's comments over the line? Is there a proper way to combat ISIS?