COMMENT | Lone wolves and enemies of the state

"When you've got one person who is deranged or driven by a hateful ideology, they can do a lot of damage, and it's a lot harder to trace those lone wolf operators."

– Former US president Barack Obama (2011)

COMMENT | The shocking deaths of state security personnel Muhamad Syafiq Ahmad Said and Ahmad Azza Fahmi Azhar come in the wake of the attempted terrorist attacks on a couple of KK Mart stores.

The latter attacks were emboldened by the rhetoric of partners in the Madani state and no doubt coddled by the pusillanimous attitude of the majority stakeholders, the firebombing of DAP MP Ngeh Koo Ham’s home, and now bullets and a death threat against DAP’s Teresa Kok.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail in an attempt to ameliorate the tense situation claimed that the attack on the Ulu Tiram police station last Friday was by a lone wolf and the situation is contained. There are a couple of issues with his assurances.

The first is, if this is a lone wolf attack, why did the prime minister say that he wants the state security apparatus to bring the mastermind to justice?

“Based on preliminary information received, I urge the police to find the mastermind and throw the book at them,” Anwar Ibrahim said.

This of course indicates that the slain terrorist was merely a tool and not the intelligence behind the attack.

So, was this a lone wolf attack or a coordinated effort by a cell operating within the district?

Furthermore, the arrest of various individuals and the inspector-general of police’s public comments suggest that...