Yemeni gov "blamed" Iran for recon plane, knowing it was a US plane

[rainbow4321]

Ok...first, how the hell do we LOSE something like this and not make a better effort in finding it.
Second, notice how the cable shows US delight in how Yemeni officials don't try to "score points" against the US, instead they go along with "blame it on Iran"



http://213.251.145.96/cable/2007/04/07SANAA473.html


¶1. (S) On March 27, Yemeni military officers discovered an
unmanned USG reconnaissance aircraft (Scan Eagle) that had
washed ashore on the Arabian Sea coast in the province of
Hadramaut. The President's Office immediately protested the
incident to CDA and requested an explanation. Initially
unaware of any USG operations in the area, Post learned after
further inquiry that the reconnaissance aircraft belonged to
the U.S.S. Ashland, which had been patrolling as part of
CTF-150, 60 nautical miles off the Yemeni coast. The
aircraft had crashed in international waters on March 17 and
had not been recovered.

¶2. (S) On March 28, CDA spoke with President Saleh (who was
attending the Arab League summit in Riyadh) via telephone and
confirmed that the aircraft belonged to the U.S. Navy. He
assured Saleh that the plane crashed performing routine
reconnaissance near the ship and had not been operating in
Yemeni territory. CDA also met separately with Interior
Minister Rashad Alimi and Ammar Saleh, Deputy Director of the
National Security Bureau, and presented both with general
information on the aircraft.

¶3. (S) President Saleh expressed doubt as to the plane's
actual mission, but promised CDA that the ROYG would not
"turn this into an international incident" and would instruct
government officials not to comment. On March 29, official
and pro-government media sources reported that the Yemeni
military had shot down an Iranian "spy plane" off the coast
of Hadramaut, after communicating with "multinational forces"
in the region. Independent daily Al-Ayam (largest
circulating independent newspaper), quoted an unnamed Yemeni
military official as confirming that the plane belonged to
the American government, but would not comment on whether the
plane was shot down or discovered after crashing.

¶4. (S) Comment: President Saleh clearly believes the
unmanned aircraft had been performing reconnaissance in
Yemeni territory when it crashed. He could have taken the
opportunity to score political points by appearing tough in
public against the United States, but chose instead to blame
Iran. No doubt focused on the unrest in Saada and our
support for the transfer of excess armored personnel carriers
from neighboring countries (reftel), Saleh decided he would
benefit more from painting Iran as the bad guy in this case.