ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
To Yemen now, which has been in the news since al-Qaida there claimed responsibility for the failed attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner. It so happens Yemen's government had renewed its war on al-Qaida with airstrikes a full eight days before that Christmas Day attack.
Analysts say it was a sharp change of direction for a government that had been reluctant to take on al-Qaida and it led to a huge spike in promised military aid from the Obama administration.
NPR's Peter Kenyon reports from San'a.
PETER KENYON: Yemen's decision to attack suspected al-Qaida operatives came as a pleasant surprise to Western counterterrorism officials. On Dec. 17th, Yemeni forces, with U.S. assistance, launched raids and airstrikes against al-Qaida targets. More airstrikes followed a week later, targeting what officials said was a meeting of top regional al-Qaida operatives.
For years Washington had been urging President Ali Abdullah Saleh to deal with the growing al-Qaida presence in Yemen. And for years Yemeni officials countered that they were too busy battling Shiite rebels in the northern Saada province and a secessionist movement in the south. They also feared a backlash from their own conservatives.
Mr. ABDUL-MAJID AL-ZINDANI: (Foreign language spoken)
KENYON: This was the hard-line sheikh Abdul-Majid al-Zindani warning Muslim worshippers in a San'a mosque recently about, quote, "secret agreements that would allow the U.S. military to bomb Yemenis from unmanned aircraft" and calling for jihad if foreign forces invade Yemen.
Independent political analyst Abdulghani al-Iryani says despite their political worries, Yemen's leaders finally decided that neither conservative public sentiment, nor the northern rebellion in Saada was sufficient reason to ignore the al-Qaida threat.
Mr. ABDULGHANI AL-IRYANI (Political Analyst): The government has been avoiding this war for a long time, under the pretext that there is a war in Saada, which is actually a completely unnecessary war that they could stop at any time. And because of fears that there is some kind of a power base for terrorism in Yemen, and they didn't want to antagonize it.
KENYON: The argument among government supporters in San'a has been that attacking al-Qaida, which has insinuated itself among the conservative tribes in remote parts of the country, would provoke a popular backlash that could seriously destabilize the government.
Analyst al-Iryani says so far the reaction to this series of strikes proves that such fears had no basis.
Mr. AL-IRYANI: Nothing. And, in fact, if you look at facts on the ground, the ideological base for al-Qaida is not in Yemen. It's in Saudi Arabia. The funding for al-Qaida comes from Saudi Arabia. And I'm convinced that the leadership, the real leadership, is still in Saudi Arabia. I don't think we need to worry about a popular backlash against the government for fighting terrorism.
KENYON: Other analysts caution, however, that while Yemeni tribes have no natural affinity with al-Qaida, airstrikes that produce large numbers of civilian casualties will be powerful recruiting tools for the militants.
Saeed Obaid al-Jamhi is the author of a book on al-Qaida in Yemen.
Mr. SAEED OBAID AL-JAMHI (Author, "Al Qa'eda: Establishment, Ideological Background and Contiguity"): (Through translator) If the U.S. makes the same mistakes it made in both Iraq and Afghanistan, this of course will drive the people into a rage. They will join an alliance with al-Qaida.
KENYON: Yemeni officials say there's another reason for the recent strikes, which have continued this month. Al-Qaida operatives were including Yemeni targets in their plots. The December 17th operations, for instance, are believed to have thwarted a plan to send four al-Qaida suicide bombers into San'a to attack either Yemeni or Western institutions.
Whatever the initial motivation, analysts say the result of Yemen's newfound determination to root out al-Qaida operatives will be a massive influx of security aid from the U.S. That, they say, will have two effects. It should encourage Yemen to keep up the fight and it will tie the Obama administration ever more closely to a regime that has been criticized for widespread corruption.
Peter Kenyon, NPR News, San'a.