Oil Price Per Barrel Today Dampens Iraq's Campaign Against Islamic State

Monica Cantilero Sunday, January 25, 2015

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (L) and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry attend a press conference at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London on Jan. 22, 2015. | REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

Lower revenues from decreasing oil prices in the global market could affect Iraq's military campaign against the Islamic State.

"Oil prices have dropped to about 40 percent of their level last year. Iraq's economy and budget relies 85 percent on oil and this has been disastrous for us," Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a news conference in London on Thursday.

"We don't want to see a reverse of our military victory due to our fiscal and budget problems," Abadi said as quoted by Yahoo! News.

The prime minister said allies can help Iraq by allowing the country to defer payment for weapons and ammunition.

Abadi also repeated his request for more weapons and support even as he criticized the pace of past U.S. and coalition efforts to aid his country.

Before he met with Western foreign ministers including Kerry in a one-day meeting on Thursday in London, Abadi said the coalition acted slow on key issues such as training Iraqi forces and delivering weapons.

"We are in this almost on our own," he was quoted by Fox News as saying. "There is a lot being said and spoken, but very little on the ground," he added.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel slammed Abadi for his swipe on the West's efforts. "I do disagree with the prime minister's comments. I would say, even further, I don't think they're helpful," Hagel said in a news briefing.

"We have a coalition of over 60 countries that have come together to help Iraq. And I think the prime minister might want to be a little more mindful of that," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Iraq should not worry that it will not have weaponry for the struggle against the Islamist militants, saying a large consignment of M16 rifles made in the U.S. will arrive in the country "very, very shortly."

Meanwhile, the fight against the ISIS in Syria will take longer than in Iraq, according to U.S. and allied officials.

Kerry was reported by The Times of Israel as saying that the almost 2,000 airstrikes launched by the US-led coalition forces have killed thousands of fighters and wiped out half of the group's leadership.