Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Zeitgeist: Irish Republican Army Threatens to Shoot Bankers (Are you listening Wilbur Ross and Carlyle Group)

Ross and Carlyle will be fine, although this was today's WSJ headline "Wilbur Ross Sees Opportunities In UK, Irish Banks",
They, along with Dublin-based Cardinal Group are buying the Irish Education Savings Bank.

Private Equity firm Carlyle is the 11th largest defense contractor in the U.S. and could probably find a way to ruin some of those IRA fellows' day.
I'm guessing they wouldn't go to portfolio company Combined Systems for their less-than-lethal offerings.

That said, I should remind our City friends that pinstripes are not protective coloration.
From: the Guardian:

Real IRA says it will target UK bankers
Exclusive: Republican terror group vows to resume mainland attacks with banks and bankers now potential targets
The IRA bombed targets in the City during the 1990s 
The IRA bombed targets in the City during the 1990s. 
Now the Real IRA may use the same tactic. 
Photograph: Rex Features 

Banks and bankers are now potential targets for the Real IRA, leaders of the dissident republican terror group have warned in an exclusive interview with the Guardian. Despite having only 100 activists they also said that targets in England remained a high priority.

In an attempt to tap into the intense hostility towards the banks on both sides of the Irish border they branded bankers as "criminals" and said: "We have a track record of attacking high-profile economic targets and financial institutions such as the City of London. The role of bankers and the institutions they serve in financing Britain's colonial and capitalist system has not gone unnoticed.

"Let's not forget that the bankers are the next-door neighbours of the politicians. Most people can see the picture: the bankers grease the politicians' palms, the politicians bail out the bankers with public funds, the bankers pay themselves fat bonuses and loan the money back to the public with interest. It's essentially a crime spree that benefits a social elite at the expense of many millions of victims."

But security sources in Northern Ireland point out say the Real IRA lacks the logistical resources of the Provisional IRA to prosecute a bombing campaign similar to the ones that devastated the City of London in the early 1990s or the Canary Wharf bomb in 1996. Although the Real IRA has access to explosives it has yet to carry out large-scale bombings....MORE
HT: Economic Policy Journal

Previously:
Zeitgeist: London Protesters Threaten Bankers, Evoke Executions

Should the IRA possess a sense of rhythm I suggest the tune I was comforted by during the height of the financial crisis, the rondo from Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 2.
(well that and the Ramones' "I wanna be sedated")

Music to Hunt Bankers By