"You may remember former NBC News correspondent John Hockenberry, who reported stories for Dateline NBC. In this month's edition of 'Technology Review,' a publication put out by MIT, Mr. Hockenberry makes a very disturbing charge. He writes about being in Saudi Arabia just after 9/11 and wanting to speak with members of Osama bin Laden's family. Hockenberry says that because 'GE had long done business with the bin Ladens,' he called GE headquarters to see if senior officers 'might try to persuade the bin Ladens to speak.' According to Hockenberry, a senior GE officer would only read him a statement over the phone saying that 'GE had an important, long-standing, and valuable relationship with Bin Laden Group' and saw 'no connection between that relationship and what Dateline was trying to do in Saudi Arabia.' There are also reports that GE continues to do business with Iran. The Factor has confirmed that, through subsidiaries, GE is working with the Iranian government on hydroelectric, oil and gas, and medical projects. It should be noted that Iran is listed as a state that sponsors terrorism, and U.S. intelligence has confirmed that Iranian weapons are being used to kill Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan. The key issue is how American corporations are behaving in the middle of a terror war. General Electric should fully explain both situations - the bin Laden deal and Iran."
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The Factor was joined by Debra Burlingame, an activist whose brother died in the World Trade Center attacks. "GE has a problem," Burlingame declared. "The fact is that they are defying U.S. sanctions by doing business with their foreign subsidiaries in Syria and Iran. On the street that would be called 'blood money.'" Security expert Christopher Holton also condemned GE for doing business with rogue nations. "Companies like GE and others are providing corporate life support for our enemies in the war on terrorism. It would not have been acceptable in the 1940's to build a hydroelectric plant in Nazi Germany, and it's not acceptable to be building one today in Iran."
The Factor reminded viewers of the other allegation against GE. "John Hockenberry said that even after 9/11, even after Osama Bin Laden attacked the U.S., General Electric wasn't going to probe Bin Laden's family. That is very disturbing."
News Link: Former NBC reporter blasts GE