US policy has enraged tribal leaders who could potentially keep AQAP in check and has, over the past three years of regular bombings, taken away the motivation for many leaders to do so. Several southern leaders angrily told me stories of US and Yemeni attacks in their areas that killed civilians and livestock and destroyed or damaged scores of homes. If anything, the US airstrikes and support for [dictator Ali Abdullah] Saleh-family-run counterterrorism units has increased tribal sympathy for Al Qaeda. 

Meanwhile, Nadia al-Sakkaf doesn't think the recent protest movement will bring down the government: