Iraq’s Prime Minister will seek President Barack Obama’s help to acquire billions of dollars in drones and other US arms to fight Islamic State during a US visit this week, a senior Iraqi official said yesterday.
Facing a cash crunch due to a plunge in oil prices and a budget deficit of roughly $21 billion this year, Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi wants to defer payment for the purchases, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Abadi is grappling with an insurgency by militants from Islamic State, an al-Qaeda offshoot that emerged from the chaos in Iraq and neighboring Syria and seized much of northern and central Iraq last year.
Visiting Washington for the first time as Prime Minister, he hopes to convince a war-weary United States Iraq deserves more US manpower and arms three years after US troops withdrew from the country in December 2011, as his fledgling army confronts Islamic State, also known as Isis and Isil.
Isis is everybody’s problem now. You can’t run away from the problem
“Isis is everybody’s problem now,” said the Iraqi official. “You can’t run away from the problem if it comes to Canada or goes to France,” he said in reference to attacks by people influenced by Islamic State or al-Qaeda in those countries. The official hinted Baghdad could turn to Tehran if it did not get the aid it wants from Washington.
“If that’s not available, we’ve already done it with the Iranians and others,” he said, saying that was not the first choice.
“The PM is committed to the US ... What he also wants to make sure is that he has a partner that he can rely on.”
Obama in August authorised the first US air strikes on Iraq since the US withdrawal and has deployed about 3,000 American military forces to help Iraq to battle the group. But he has also imposed limits on the US military role on the ground to training and advising Iraqi and Kurdish forces.
The official said Abadi, who is to meet Obama tomorrow, wanted to explore obtaining a series of advanced weapons, including unarmed drone aircraft, Apache attack helicopters manufactured by Boeing Co and ammunition. He will also seek permission to postpone payment for the weaponry.
“We’re talking about billions here,” he said. “This is a new approach for us because of the scale of the challenge we have ahead. Mosul and Nineveh province and Anbar will cost us a lot.” National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey said the United States will continue to consult Iraq’s leaders to ensure they have what they need to fight Islamic State.
“The United States is committed to providing essential equipment to Iraqi security forces, including Kurdish forces, as part of the Coalition fight against ISIL,” Baskey said in an interview yesterday.