Yemen's AQAP Will Continue Ideological, Physical Battle After al-Awlaki's Death

The Yemeni Defense Ministry has announced that U.S.-born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was killed in an airstrike. If the reports are true, al-Awlaki's death would be a blow to al Qaeda's Yemeni franchise, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). But it is important not to overstate the cleric's death; AQAP's ideological and physical battle against the West will continue whether he is dead or not.