I got this in an Email,

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SOME GOOD ANSWERS GIVEN BY AMERICANS DURING MEETINGS IN EUROPE:

Subject:
Shutting them up politely...

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 who did not return'.

It became very quiet in the room.


Then 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 intend 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 the injured to and from their flight deck.. We have eleven such ships;
how many does France have?'

Once again, dead silence.


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.

A French officer 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 its because the
Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to
speak German.'

You could have heard a pin drop!

I think it would be a good idea to pass this around to let the
world know how important it is to have the right attitude regarding
the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.