General Electric is one of the biggest corporations in the world — and one of its biggest arms manufacturers. Its engines power the war machine.
GE operates in more than 100 countries, including Australia, and employs 313,000 people. Its products include aircraft engines, home appliances, insurance, banking and investment, real estate and newspapers.
In 2000, the company made US$12.7 billion profit and had assets worth US$437 billion.
GE's aircraft engine business is the world's largest producer of large and small jet engines for commercial and military aircraft. GE produces 13 different military aircraft engines, including models F118 and F404.
The GE website states "GE is at the heart of many of those [military] products. From military transports, to attack helicopters, to fast frigates, GE's engines provide power and longevity. Our products are proven and continue to operate in diverse environments around the globe. We are proud of our record both in the number of aircraft we power and the history of those aircraft in service."
What is the "history of those aircraft in service" which GE is so proud of?
It is a history of wars carried out by western governments, the United States in particular, against Third World countries such as Vietnam, Iraq and now Afghanistan, which have killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people.
GE had aircraft-engine sales topped US$2 billion during 1996. That's not an insubstantial amount — but it's only 2% of the corporate giant's US$79.1 billion in overall sales that year.
A late-1994 deal with Egypt for 12 McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache helicopters and six GE T700 engines was worth US$318 million. A 1997 deal with Israel for 30 GE turbine engines — along with 15 of Sikorsky's UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters — brought the two companies US$200 million.
But the real money has been in Kuwait: in 1994 GE engines were part of a package (including Apaches, 500 Hughes/Rockwell Hellfire missiles, and 13,000 Hydra-70 rockets) worth US$692 million.
In 1997 Kuwait followed with an order for more spare GE engines, 16 Apaches, 384 Hellfire missiles and two spare launchers for US$800 million.
GE was founded by Thomas Edison in 1926 and originally sold light bulbs. GE's website proudly states that the company has a "rich and diverse corporate history" and that it is the only corporation that was listed on the original stock exchange and is still listed on the exchange today.
Jack Welch, treated as a demigod in the business world, was the company's chief executive officer from 1981 to 2000. During that time the value of GE's shares increased from US$12 billion to US$437 billion. As a result of GE buying and selling different businesses, hundreds of thousands of workers lost their jobs.
The company isn't only profiting from machines of death; it's also a monopolist in many different fields.
GE Capital is one of the world's largest finance operations, an agglomeration of more than a dozen finance businesses in insurance and lending which generated over 50% of the company's earnings in 2000 and has immense power in the financial markets.
GE also owns NBC, a global media company with diverse holdings. In the United States, NBC owns and operates the NBC Television Network, the business channel CNBC, 13 television stations, the MSNBC web portal with Microsoft and maintains equity interests in a wide array of entertainment and sports cable channels.
This extensive media control allows GE to control the information which the public receives and influence public opinion.
It is not surprising that GE's media networks support the US-led war on the Third World — that war will help the company sell huge amounts of military equipment, such as aircraft engines and parts, and multiply profits.
GE's slogan, "We bring good things to life", would be more truthfully replaced with "We profit from weapons which destroy life".
@authw= BY MATTHEW RICH