Blair warns of attacks larger than Paris by Islamic State

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned of terrorist attacks larger than those carried out in Paris in which 130 people were killed, if the threat of the Islamic State was not seriously addressed.

Speaking at an event at the U.S. Library of Congress, Blair laid out what he said was a comprehensive strategy for defeating the Islamic State, which he said must begin with a recognition of the size of the challenge.

"But a continued failure to recognize the scale of the challenge and to construct the means necessary to meet it will result in terrorist attacks potentially worse than those in Paris, producing a backlash which then stigmatize the majority of decent law abiding Muslims and puts the very alliance that is so necessary at risk creating a cycle of chaos and violence," said Blair.

Blair has become a controversial figure in Britain for his support of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In October Blair acknowledged that the invasion of Iraq played a part in the rise of the Islamic State militant group, and apologized for some mistakes in planning the war.

Blair said that the Islamic state must be fought militarily and ideologically.

"But destroying the so-called...