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Rock-bottom oil prices are ravaging Iraq's ability to combat the Islamic State (IS), former US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told Congress at a Jan. 12 hearing.
Ford's warning was one of several ominous messages from a trio of former Obama administration officials who painted a far less rosy picture of the fight against IS than the one expected a few hours later in the president's final State of the Union address. Ford told the House Armed Services Committee that the Iraqis' financial woes are the biggest challenge, along with sectarian strife, to defeating IS.
