Thanks much for posting this as I might have missed it.

I note this part with sadness that the AP has to go begging for foreign coverage dollars these days:

The Associated Press reported this story with help from a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

seems like that is what it takes in this day and age of a narcissist president sucking up all the coverage.

I don't care if the reporters got some things wrong here, it's clear that they are trying really hard to figure out what's really going on....enough to basically apply for a charitable grant to attempt to do it. At least someone is trying! Now if we could just compare/contrast with a few others working on same.

As for the content, there is something I was sensing as I was reading along, about how this is not the 90's and 00's Al Qaeda at all, that came out loud and clear when it got to this, my underlining:

‘WE WILL UNITE WITH THE DEVIL’

To think of al-Qaida as an international terror group is to miss its other reality. For many Yemenis, it is simply another faction on the ground — a very effective one, well-armed and battle-hardened.

Its members are not shadowy strangers. Over the years, AQAP has woven itself into society by building ties with tribes, buying loyalties and marrying into major families.

Power players often see it as a useful tool.

This suggest it has become just another tribe in the area, no different than like the Saudi royal family or the Sadrists in Iraq There is no longer any ideology, just a cool dangerous sounding brand, one that can be used for transactional bonafides.