Kim Howells should listen to Peter Hain on the Paris atrocities.

There have been s number of Honourable and sensible reaction to Thursday's  atrocities  om Paris alas this did not include Kim Howells who the "Wasting Mule " describes as One of Wales’ leading political experts on terrorism has described the attacks on Paris as being part of a “holy war”.

Former Pontypridd MP Kim Howells, who chaired the Intelligence and Security committee and served as a Foreign Office Minister, said the attacks could have been in Cardiff or London or anywhere.


He said: 

“Whichever way you want to look at it this is a holy war that is going on.

“Everyone is saying it is down to France’s involvement in Syria and bombing Isis, but then in past they did not invade Iraq. It is a nonsense."

The Mule claims his comments were echoed by former Wales and Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain, who said no city in western Europe whose government was participating in action in the Middle East was safe. But there appears to be very different reaction from him in reality


Mr Howells said that France faced many of the same problems as the UK.

“I heard this morning there are 7,000,000 Muslims living in France.
“Even if only a tiny minority have sympathy to terrorism France, like Britain, is going to have problems.
“You cannot watch all the people all of the time.
“France is very proud of its liberty and secularism. But these people are determined to murder and kill.
“This could have been London or Cardiff or Glasgow or anywhere.
Mr Howells said that the security services needed extra powers to “deal with encrypted communications.”
“People need to think seriously about this now. Why would you give terrorists an even break?”

To be fair Peter  Hain probably because of Northern Ireland better

 "No city in Western Europe whose governments are participating in action in the Middle East is safe.
"Cardiff isn't safe, and we know some jihadis originated in Cardiff.
""At the same time, this would be equally catastrophic if this atrocity became a further recruiting drive for Islamophobia. That's not only wrong and evil but extremely counter-productive."
"Clearly security has to be improved in Paris along the lines that exist in London. It's sometimes resented as intrusion with CCTV and public buildings being properly protected, but that's only one part of the picture.
"Similarly on intelligence, I think the French are behind the curve with British intelligence on things like this."But I don't say that out of any complacency.
"The roots of this are a catastrophic series of foreign policy failures, most recently in Syria, which has been an abominable failure by the UK, US and Middle Eastern countries.
mely counter-productive."
"I don't say this as a party political point but if you look at the way the Prime Minister has handled the Syrian crisis it's been full of bombast and bluster.
We have got to learn the lessons of Afghanistan, Iraq and, under this Prime Minister, Libya, which have proved a disaster after Western attempts to barge in."
"But that's not in any way to condone or excuse terrorist atrocities but simply to say we are inviting a war if our foreign policy is a complete failure.
"I think there has to be concerted diplomacy to work with countries in the Middle East to take ownership of this battle against Islamic State.
""In the end, the vast majority of Muslims want to live in peace like everyone else.
"But the politics of the Middle East are broken. The West is allying itself with various powers but we have got to have a more even-handed approach."

 Mr Howells comments were also in the thoughts of Welsh Muslim leaders who condemned the Paris attacks, describing them as “evil”.
 
Muslim Council of Wales secretary general, Saleem Kidwai, denounced the killers as “criminals and terrorists".
He said: 

“They are not Islamic. They are not human beings to me.
“I cannot imagine why any human being would want to commit an atrocity and kill innocent people.
“If you are in a war zone and fighting an army then you can justify your acts, but killing innocent people?
“It is disturbing to me.”

“This is not a holy war,” Mr Kidwai said.
“These people are criminals. They are nothing to do with Islam or Muslims.
“If someone is called Mohammed Ali and they say, ‘Allahu akbar’ that does not make them a Muslim.
“If you are not following the basic principals of the faith it does not matter what your name is.
“Your acts define your faith not your words.”

“The most recent attacks in Paris are an affront to humanity.
“We mourn the deaths and offer our thoughts and prayers to the families who have lost their loved ones.
“The deaths in Paris follow terror attacks in Beirut and Baghdad.
“This attack is being claimed by the group calling themselves ‘Islamic State’ but there is nothing Islamic about such people and their actions are evil.
“Muslims globally, and here in Wales, reject the so called Islamic States’ political aspirations in Syria and Iraq, and we reject their attempt to justify their violence through religion.
“The Muslim Council of Wales extends its hand of friendship to all those in France who are suffering. Paris, Beirut and Baghdad will be in our prayers.”

I am convinced  Saleem Kidwai, speaks for nearly every Muslim in Wales and his words will be echoed by  the 7,000,000 Muslims in France of which the less than 1% who took part in the Paris atrocities mistakenly claim to share the same faith.

They do not and we should recognise this because the reason that these Roster t acts are carried out is to make the authorities crack down on al Muslims futher alienating them.