Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has long posed a direct threat to the West, a threat arguably more serious than that posed by Islamic State. Yet many seem surprised by this after news reports that one of the suspects in Wednesday’s attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris may have had links to AQAP.
The suspect, Said Kouachi, reportedly received training in Yemen in 2011. During that trip, he allegedly met with Anwar al-Awlaki, the U.S.-born preacher closely associated with AQAP until he was killed by a U.S. drone strike later that year.
