RENEE MONTAGNE, Host:
Welcome to the program.
GERALD FEIERSTEIN: Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here.
MONTAGNE: Let's begin with some basics. What is driving al-Qaida and has allowed it to get a foothold in Yemen?
FEIERSTEIN: Well, I think that there are a number of factors that are operating here. One, of course, is that many of the senior operatives and the roots of the organization itself really rest in the Arabian Peninsula. Many of the senior people are either Saudi or Yemeni. There is a significant population of Yemenis who are associated with al-Qaida in Afghanistan who are now in Guantanamo. There is a population that is tribal oriented that has that has many of the characteristics of the tribes in Pakistan and Afghanistan. And as the pressure on al-Qaida in Pakistan and Afghanistan increased, many of those individuals moved and it was natural for them to go to Yemen.
MONTAGNE: Well, one thing we know from Pakistan is that the use of drones by the U.S. has alienated the population. And we know from WikiLeaks that in Yemen diplomatic cables suggest that the president thought it was a good idea to claim droned strikes as his own - not to let the population know that these were in fact done by the U.S. What going forward is the feeling about those strikes?
FEIERSTEIN: You know, we provide them with different kinds of assistance, with training and equipping, their forces, but at the end of the day, I think that we want to limit our engagement to that kind of a role and not take a much more active profile in Yemen.
MONTAGNE: Critics believe though, the current president Saleh, has an interest in maintaining a level of threat so that he can prosper off American aid and intervention. I mean, it allows him to justify his rule and also keep opponents at bay.
FEIERSTEIN: Right. There is this theory that...
MONTAGNE: And it's held by his own people.
FEIERSTEIN: And many of his own people hold that theory.
MONTAGNE: I mean they would go so far as to say some, you know, al-Qaida doesn't even exist.
FEIERSTEIN: Right. People do question the seriousness of the threat to Yemen from violent extremist organizations. But I would say that from our own information, which is not necessarily derived entirely from the government of Yemen, we're pretty confident that al-Qaida and the Arabian Peninsula is a serious threat, and I think that we're confident President Selah is a good partner for the United States in these issues.
MONTAGNE: How is this administration trying to strike a balance between supporting a country where stability is very important and having an ally is important against the problem of having as a friend and ally a government that is viewed by a large swath of its own people as repressive?
FEIERSTEIN: But at the same time, we also have to recognize that we have an immediate challenge. There is a direct threat to U.S. national security that comes out of the ability of al-Qaida and the Arabian Peninsula and other violent extremist groups to operate in Yemen. And we need both for our own security interests as well as the security interests of the Yemeni people themselves and of the region and of the world to address those.
MONTAGNE: Ambassador, thank you.
FEIERSTEIN: It was a pleasure to be here. Thank you so much.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MONTAGNE: You're listening to MORNING EDITION from NPR News.