November 13, 2009
Yemen Lied, There's No New Military Agreement with US
Yemeni Chief of Staff Ahmed Ali al-Ashwal in a statement to SABA news agency said the US and Yemen concluded an agreement on enhanced intel sharing, military training and new equipment. And the news went all around the world.
Deal or no deal?
No deal, Howie. Both the Embassy and the Pentagon issued a statement that the two sides signed the minutes of a meeting, not a new military agreement.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Pentagon said on Friday the United States had not signed a military cooperation deal with Yemen, refuting a report from Sanaa's official news agency"There were no agreements signed," spokesman Bryan Whitman told AFP...Yemen's official Saba news agency said on Wednesday that the two countries had signed a military cooperation agreement during talks in the capital Sanaa.
Normally the US doesn't bother contradicting the bizzaro Yemeni statements, which in unfortunate because the Yemeni people and the world believe them. But what kind of sleezy dirtbag government (Yemen?) issues a flat out lie through the official media about a meeting with a major ally. Its very difficult to believe anything coming out of the Sana'a regime on any topic.
Our initial report noted, "To clarify, its quite possible the Yemeni government is lying; they do it all the time. Every visit by any US official, according to reports from SABA news agency over the last five years, is for the express purpose of praising Yemen's democracy and counter-terror cooperation."
