( CNN ) -- When Tony Blair heard British aid worker David Haines mention the former prime minister prior to his beheading , it strengthened his resolve to fight ISIS , he said Sunday . `` It makes me even more determined to take these people on and beat them , '' Blair said in an interview on CNN 's `` State of the Union . '' Before his execution this month , Haines directed a message at British Prime Minister David Cameron , saying , `` You entered voluntarily into a coalition with the United States against the Islamic State , just as your predecessor , Tony Blair , did , following a trend amongst our British Prime Ministers who ca n't find the courage to say no to the Americans . '' It 's not clear whether Haines ' comments were voluntary or were coerced by his captors . In his Sunday interview , Blair said he felt President Barack Obama is `` absolutely right to take on ISIS and build the broadest possible coalition . '' He said , however , that aerial campaigns wo n't be enough and ISIS will need to be fought `` on the ground , '' but it 's unclear whether the Iraqi and Kurdish fighters already battling ISIS will be sufficient or if they 'll need to be supplemented . He did not specify who might need to provide troops , saying the plan to battle the terrorist group will `` evolve over time . '' Asked why some British citizens had opted to join ISIS , Blair said it was n't just a British problem but a European one . He also emphasized that the ideology espoused by those who fight alongside ISIS is abhorrent to most Muslims . `` The broad mass of the Muslim community in the UK will be absolutely horrified and appalled by this and condemn it completely , '' he said . `` The way these hostages are abused and subject to the grotesque form of public parade and then execution , it 's just horrific . It 's evil and it 's totally contrary to the principles of any form of religious faith . '' Britons who adhere to this ideology have been subjected to a perversion of Islam that must be stamped out not only in Britain , but in the Middle East and Africa , Blair said . It was a familiar tack for the former prime minister , who said in an April speech that it was absurd that the United Kingdom spends billions on defense to protect itself from `` the consequences of an ideology '' that is being taught formally and informally in countries `` with whom we have intimate security and defense relationships . '' At that time , Blair suggested raising the level of international dialogue to force countries to effect changes within their own societies . It 's not solely about the horrendous death toll from `` religiously inspired conflict , '' he said , but `` quite apart from the actual loss of life , there is the loss of life opportunities for parts of the population mired in backward thinking and reactionary attitudes , especially towards girls . '' In Sunday 's interview , Blair said Britons were not joining ISIS because they 'd been mistreated in the UK but because they 'd been exposed to this radical ideology . `` It 's an ideology based in a complete perversion of the proper faith of Islam , but it is powerful . It is proselytized and preached by people in mosques and madrasas not just in countries like Pakistan and parts of the Middle East and parts of Africa , but back in parts of Britain , '' he said . `` How do you root this kind of teaching out and make it absolutely clear that it is completely unacceptable to teach these forms of extremism ? '' he asked . Blair did not expand his remarks on Haines or offer thoughts on aid worker Alan Henning , who appeared in the video of Haines ' execution , but he said ISIS ' treatment of its hostages shows why it 's so important to win the fight against the group . The recent broadcast of executions demonstrates `` how completely divorced from any type of proper human compassion these people are , and why it 's also necessary to take them on and beat them . '' Terrorist attacks span East and West , he said , citing incidents in Uganda , Kenya , Somalia , Thailand , Australia , Nigeria and Yemen , and thus require a `` global response '' rather than a response only from the West or the West and a few Arab states . Even countries like Russia , China and India can find common ground with the United States on dealing with the threat , Blair said , adding that cooperating with Russia to battle extremism should not `` impinge on how we view Russian attitude toward Ukraine . ''
Hearing his name in execution video strengthened Obama resolve to defeat Blair , he says . Ex-prime minister says Tony Blair 's `` absolutely right '' to build coalition , fight terror group . Blair : Aerial campaigns wo n't be enough ; it 's unclear if fight will require more troops on ground . West must root out `` perversion '' of faith taught in Europe , Africa and Middle East , he says .