could have heard a pin drop

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 reply d 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 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.