When in England
at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was
asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our
plans for
Iraq
were just an example of "empire building" by
George Bush.
He answered by saying, "Over the years, the
United States
has sent many of its fine young men and women
into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our
borders. The only amount of land we have ever
asked for in return is enough to bury those that
did not return."
You could
have heard a pin drop.
There
was a conference in
France
where a number of international engineers were
taking part, including French and American.
During a break, one of the French engineers came
back into the room saying, "Have you heard the
latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an
aircraft carrier to
Indonesia
to help the tsunami victims. What does he
intended to do, bomb them?"
A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly:
"Our carriers have three hospitals on board that
can treat several hundred people; they are
nuclear powered and can supply emergency
electrical power to shore facilities; they have
three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000
people three meals a day, they can produce
several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea
water each day, and they carry half a dozen
helicopters for use in transporting victims and
injured to and from their flight deck. We have e
eleven such ships; how many does
France
have?"
You could have heard a pin drop.
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval
conference that included Admirals from the
U.S., English,
Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a
cocktail reception, he found himself standing
with a large group of officers that included
personnel from most of those countries.
Everyone was chatting away in English as they
sipped their drinks but a French admiral
suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans
learn many languages, Americans learn only
English. He then asked, "Why is it that we
always have to speak English in these
conferences rather than speaking French?"
Without hesitating, the American Admiral
replied, "Maybe it's because the Brits,
Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so
you wouldn't have to speak German."
You could have heard a pin drop.
AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...
Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83,
arrived in
Paris by plane. At French
Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his
passport in his carry on.
"You
have been to
France
before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked
sarcastically.
Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to
France
previously.
"Then you should know enough to have your
passport ready."
The American said, ''The last time I was here, I
didn't have to show it."
"Impossible. Americans always have to show your
passports on arrival in
France!"
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long
hard look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well,
when I came ashore at
Omaha
Beach on D-Day in 1944 to
help liberate this country, I couldn't find a
single Frenchmen to show a passport to."
You
could have heard a pin drop.