One of Britain’s most senior military figures has accused the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary of running scared over a fresh military intervention in Iraq.

General Sir Richard Shirreff, Nato’s former deputy supreme allied commander in Europe, told The Independent on Sunday: “Both [David] Cameron and [Philip] Hammond have waxed lyrical about the apocalyptic nature of the threat. If that’s the case, you need a proper strategy to deal with it.”

The general, who left the military in August, dismissed Britain’s involvement in air strikes and aid drops as “futile gestures”. When it comes to dealing with Islamic State, he said: “If you’ve got a terrorist organisation that’s equipped like a state army, albeit a pretty ropey state army, there’s only one thing you can do about it. If you want to get rid of them you’ve got to go and fight them, and that means deploying effective military force to fight them.”

Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Show all 22 1 /22 Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Mourners gathered to bury three Kurdish fighters from Kobani Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border An explosion rocks the Syrian city of Kobani during a reported suicide car bomb attack by Isis Getty Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border The US and Turkey have stepped up support for Kurdish fighters defending Kobani against Isis but it is still feared the town may fall; above, observers watch the fighting from a nearby village AFP Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border People are silhouetted on the top of a hill close to the border line between Turkey and Syria near Mursitpinar bordergate as they watch the U.S led airstrikes over ther Syrian town of Kobani Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Syrian Kurd Kiymet Ergun (56) gestures, in Mursitpinar on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, as thick smoke rises following an airstrike by the US-led coalition in Kobani, as fighting continued between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Isis group Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Kurdish Rabia Ali (R) accompanied by her son Ali Mehmud (L) mourn at the grave of her son Seydo Mehmud 'Curo', a Kurdish fighter, who was killed in the fighting with the militants of the Islamic State group in Kobani, and was buried at a cemetery in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Mourners gather for the funeral of two Syrian Kurdish fighters killed in fighting with militants of the Isis group in Kobani at a cemetery in Suruc Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Kurdish refugees fleeing Kobani enter Turkey at Suruc Getty Images Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Smoke from air strikes against Isis in Kobani can be seen from across the border in Mursitpinar, Turkey Getty Images Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Newly arrived Kurdish refugees after crossing into Turkey from the Syrian border town of Kobani Getty Images Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Kurdish refugees cross the border near Kobani Getty Images Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Smoke rises from the city centre of Kobani Getty Images Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Isis militants stand next to an Isis flag atop a hill in the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobani by the Kurds, as seen from the Turkish-Syrian border, with Turkish troops in foreground, in the southeastern town of Suruc, Sanliurfa province Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border A flag of Isis group is seen atop of a building at the eastern side of the town of Kobani, Syria, where fighting had been intensified between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Isis group Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Militants with the Isis group are seen after placing their group's flag on a hilltop at the eastern side of the town of Kobani Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Smoke rises after an apparent airstrike by allied forces against Isis targets in the west of Kobani where Kurdish fighters try to defend the town, near Suruc district, Sanliurfa, Turkey Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Newly arrived Syrian Kurdish refugees stand at the back of a truck after crossing into Turkey from the Syrian border town Kobani, near the southeastern Turkish town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Turkish forces fire tear gas to disperse Kurds on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, as fighting intensified between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Isis in Kobani Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Kurdish men shout towards Turkish army soldiers, who try to evacuate people from the village of Mursitpinar, on the other side of the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobani by the Kurds, by the Turkish-Syrian border in Sanliurfa province Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Turkish Kurds walk as tanks in the background hold their positions on a hilltop in the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, overlooking Kobani in Syria where fighting had ben intensified between Syrian Kurds and the militants of Isis Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Turkish Gendarmerie use tear gas to disperse Kurdish protesters during a demonstration against the Isis, at the Syria-Turkey border near Sanliurfa Isis fighters in Kobani (2014): Civilians flee as militants enter Syria-Turkey border Syria-Turkey border Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc, Sanliurfa province

The former Nato commander added: “I’ve seen enough of fighting, but sometimes you’ve got to do it. And what we have is a government that wrings its hands, shouts loudly but carries a tiny stick which it’s not prepared to use.”

He accused the Government of “playing politics instead of strategy” because “they are so petrified about overseas military commitment in the face of an election next year – they are not prepared to do anything”.

“If this is serious and a cancer that’s got to be excised, then there’s only one way to do it, which is to go and fight the bastards on the ground. This hand-wringing about boots on the ground I just find utterly ludicrous, frankly,” he said. He stressed that military force will not succeed unless it is part of a wider strategic approach to deal with the problem, which he described as “a serious threat .... If we see the break-up of the Middle East’s geographic and state framework that we’ve got at the moment, then it’s going to make the break-up of Yugoslavia look like a children’s tea party,” he said.

General Sir Richard Shirreff says Britain is wary of ground attacks in places such as Kobani (PA)

Others urge caution. Dr Douglas Porch, a insurgency expert who has taught at the US Army War College and the Nato Defence College, warned MPs that Britain risks “swelling the numbers” of people going to Syria if it intervenes. “Every time we have intervened since Jimmy Carter in the 1980s, we make the situation worse. We create power vacuums. We alienate people and we create ungoverned spaces. We are living the consequences, in my opinion, of that succession of policies,” he told the Commons Defence Select Committee.

A former CIA officer in Iraq and Afghanistan believes Britain is exaggerating the threat of IS and playing into the hands of extremists by threatening to disown its own citizens. Patrick Skinner, a director of the Soufan Group of security consultants, said: “The tendency seems to be exaggeration, at least in the certainty of the threat. It is a real concern but it’s not like this ticking time bomb of certainty.” The threat needs to be kept in perspective, he argued. “It’s a real threat, but then the world is full of many real threats.”

He cautioned against having “policy driven by unfounded fear” and said: “It’s OK to be concerned. But fright is a bad policy. Because we have gone through this road before where if it is ‘possible’ it becomes ‘imminent’, and we know for a fact that’s foolish and that’s just an utter waste of resources.”