US Defense secretary in Iraq to discuss fight against ISIS
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By: VoA Pashto
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US Defense secretary in Iraq to discuss fight against ISIS - Video
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in Baghdad, Dec. 9, 2014. REUTERS
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Tuesday that his army is taking the offensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group but needs more air power and heavy weaponry to prevail.
Hagel, who flew to Baghdad to get a first-hand report on progress against ISIS militants, held a series of meetings with top Iraqi government officials and conferred with American military commanders.
He met with al-Abadi at the prime minister's office after addressing a group of U.S. and Australian soldiers at Baghdad International Airport.
Al-Abadi told Hagel as their meeting began that "Daesh (ISIS) is on the descent at the moment." He said their capabilities had been reduced.
"We are very thankful for the support that's been given to us," al-Abadi said. "Our forces are very much advancing on the ground. But they need more air power and more ... heavy weaponry. We need that."
Asked later about al-Abadi's request, Hagel told reporters, "I appreciated his directness," but he was not more specific about how he responded.
U.S. officials assert that the Iraqis' biggest need is competent military leadership, not additional military hardware.
The prime minister said ISIS had acquired extensive weaponry and remained able to move back and forth between Iraq and Syria. That contrasts with statements by U.S. commanders who say the militants' ability to resupply their fighters in Iraq has been severely constrained by airstrikes.
In remarks to reporters later, Hagel said Iraqi forces are preparing for broader counteroffensives.
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Iraq PM asks Hagel for more help fighting ISIS
Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi asked outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel for more weapons and air support to defeat Islamic State as U.S.-led airstrikes against the militant group enter a fifth month.
The al-Qaeda breakaway group has acquired heavy weapons and remains able to move between Iraq and Syria, Abadi told Hagel today. Hagel, whos leaving his post after conflicts with White House officials, is on a farewell tour that has also taken him to Afghanistan, another U.S. war front.
We are very thankful for the support thats been given to us, Abadi said. Our forces are very much advancing on the ground. But they need more air power and more heavy weapons, he said.
Iraq's Brittle Nationhood
While President Barack Obama has pledged that U.S. forces serving as advisers and trainers wont become involved directly in ground combat, American officials have emphasized in recent days that Iraqi forces wont be ready for months to launch a counteroffensive in territory seized by Islamic State.
His specific request regarding additional firepower was one we did discuss, Hagel told reporters at a press conference in Baghdad after his meeting with Abadi, without saying whether it will be granted. Hagel said the U.S. has accelerated delivery to Iraq of weapons such as Hellfire missiles and mine-resistant armored vehicles.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks to American troops during a visit in FOB Gamberi, Afghanistan, on Dec. 7, 2014. Close
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks to American troops during a visit in FOB... Read More
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U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks to American troops during a visit in FOB Gamberi, Afghanistan, on Dec. 7, 2014.
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Iraq Asks U.S. for Arms as Hagel Makes First Baghdad Visit
Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) Marketfield Asset Management CEO Michael Shaoul examines falling oil prices and the impact on global markets. He speaks with Bloombergs Tom Keene, Scarlet Fu and Brendan Greeley on Bloomberg Surveillance. (Source: Bloomberg)
Iraq will sell its Basrah Light crude next month to customers in Asia at the steepest discount in at least 11 years, following Saudi Arabias lead as Middle Eastern producers seek to defend market share.
Basrah Light, a high-sulfur oil used by refiners including China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., was set at $4 a barrel below the average of Middle East benchmark Oman and Dubai grades, according to a statement from Iraqs Oil Marketing Co. yesterday. Thats the lowest since at least August 2003, when Bloomberg started compiling the data. The official selling price to U.S. buyers was cut by 30 cents compared with December, while shipments to Europe were marked up by 10 cents.
Iraq is reducing export prices to Asia after a similar move by Saudi Arabia last week. The two nations are the biggest producers in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which decided against cutting its production quota at a Nov. 27 meeting even as the highest U.S. output in three decades is seen exacerbating a global glut.
Saudi Arabian Oil Co. reduced its January price for Arab Light sales to Asia to $2 a barrel below the Oman-Dubai average, the Dhahran-based company said in an e-mailed statement on Dec. 4. Thats the widest discount since June 2000 when Bloomberg began compiling the data. Its Arab Medium grade, which National Iranian Oil Co. and Kuwait Petroleum Corp. have followed in the past, was cut by $1.85 from December.
The increase in discounts is seen as a move by Middle Eastern producers to defend market share, Erik Nikolai Stavseth and Kurt Waldeland, analysts at Arctic Securities ASA in Oslo, said today in an investor note. This should incentivize Asian buyers to increase stockpiling short term, supporting seaborne crude volumes out of the Middle Eastern Gulf. At the moment, owners are still enjoying firm freight rates.
VLCCs, or Very Large Crude Carriers, are commanding spot-market rates of about $64,000 a day, while Suezmaxes are being quoted at about $38,000 a day, the analysts said. We remain positive on the crude tanker segment moving into 2015 on the back of limited supply growth and continued increase in average distances sailed, they said.
Middle East producers form half of OPECs 12 members, which collectively supply about 40 percent of the worlds oil. Iraq ships Basrah Light from its oil terminal in the Persian Gulf and also exports Kirkuk crude to U.S. and European markets mainly via the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.
To contact the reporters on this story: Sherry Su in London at lsu23@bloomberg.net; Sharon Cho in Singapore at ccho28@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nayla Razzouk at nrazzouk2@bloomberg.net Bruce Stanley, Alaric Nightingale
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Iraq Follows Saudis Discounting Oil for Asia to 11-Year Low
IRBIL, Iraq While Iraq is being torn apart along sectarian lines, Shiites and Sunnis have managed to keep the peace among themselves in a tent city near Irbil.
The United Nations-funded Camp Hashem houses more than 1,300 Iraqis displaced by the war that pits Islamic State militants against government and Kurdish forces. The French relief agency in charge manages to maintain order among the mixed, destitute population with just a half dozen employees and no security personnel. The camp opened its doors to all comers in September, accepting 35 families each day before reaching capacity in October.
Here its actually been incredibly calm, said Yasmine Colijn, the camp manager with the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development. Weve had some tensions arise, but I think in the same way you would in any city or village where you dont get along with your neighbors.
Internationally funded camps ideally house several different ethnic groups and faiths, she said, while private sites like those funded by the Catholic Church or improvised shelters may be more selective. Still, in practice most camps can easily be identified by the predominant group they house.
Disputes at Hashem, Coljin said, have never led to violence. Earlier on Sunday a distraught woman came to the administration tent pleading with workers for new housing. The family in the neighboring tent had stolen money from her, she said, and she could no longer trust them.
A worker directed her to one of four so-called community mobilizers, who meet with residents and form representative committees from their ranks to deal with problems. The family members surrounding her calmed down and walked away.
Like most of the camp residents, the woman had likely fled her home with little more than the clothes on her back and a collection of horror stories about Sunni Islamic State extremists, who have claimed village after village in northern Iraq.
We used to eat and drink with our (Sunni) neighbors, said Mahmoud, a 27-year-old Shiite carpenter from a village near Mosul. He and others felt safer providing only their first names. One night they were our neighbors, and by morning they were ISIS, he said, using an alternative name for the Islamic State.
Mahmoud still gets mocking phone calls from his former Sunni friends, he said. They invite him back home and complain they missed out on the hefty bounty the Islamic State placed on fighting-age Shiite men like him.
His harrowing experience is typical of those fleeing the Islamic State.
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Iraqs Sunnis and Shiites coexist in Kurdish refugee camp