Europe's view of America.
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."
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 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 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
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."
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 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 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
0
-
[:D][:D][:D][:D]Truth Hurts 0 -
quote: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."
Must be why we maintain several hundred military bases in over 130 countries around the world or why in Iraq we maintain the largest embassy in the world that happens to be about as big as the Vatican.
Did we lose that many people in our wars or is someone BS'ing big time?
quote: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?"If this is true, and it's not, it would make very little if any sense since the French, along with the Japanese, Indians, British, and Australians, sent military naval vessels to the afflicted region.0 -
quote:Originally posted by ElMuertoMonkey
quote: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."
Must be why we maintain several hundred military bases in over 130 countries around the world or why in Iraq we maintain the largest embassy in the world that happens to be about as big as the Vatican.
Did we lose that many people in our wars or is someone BS'ing big time?
quote: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?"If this is true, and it's not, it would make very little if any sense since the French, along with the Japanese, Indians, British, and Australians, sent military naval vessels to the afflicted region.
so because we have a big embassy in Iraq, we're the bad guys? Got it. Were we the bad guys because we had a massive embassy in Moscow during the Cold War? Listen, we all know that the literal words supposedly spoken in Powell's statement aren't true in objective reality. You're not telling us anyting EVERYBODY doesn't already know about America's military presence all over the world. It's the SPIRIT and ESSENCE of the truth and what the values those words articulate that are important, for the both the story and the real world we live in.0 -
First one is true
>snopes
Couldn't find anything on the other two.0 -
EMM,
The bases are not our land, only land we are allowed to use. The cemeteries are US soil.
The other statement was true, just out of a fools mouth who was (obviously) clueless.
Sorry to burst the bubble.0 -
Good one, I posted it in one of the Finnish forums. There are still way too many dumbasses in Finland, who still think we should be part of Soviet Union[}:)]
http://www.toiminta-ampujat.fi/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=47309#473090 -
quote: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.
I have to laugh every time I hear something like this comming from the mouth of an Englishman. England was probably in the top 5 when it comes to "Empire Building".0 -
The opening post reminded me of when French President DeGaulle announced -- in the early 1950s -- that all American troops would be asked to leave French soil. American president Eisenhower answered, "Even the dead ones?
But I am not picking on the French. Now that they have elected a conservative president, they have revealed that most common Frenchmen are not anti-American. Stuck up and snooty, maybe, but not the flaming socialists we have feared. Most flaming socialists in France work for the government -- kind of like in the U.S.0 -
Great post. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by River Rat
The opening post reminded me of when French President DeGaulle announced -- in the early 1950s -- that all American troops would be asked to leave French soil. American president Eisenhower answered, "Even the dead ones?
But I am not picking on the French. Now that they have elected a conservative president, they have revealed that most common Frenchmen are not anti-American. Stuck up and snooty, maybe, but not the flaming socialists we have feared. Most flaming socialists in France work for the government -- kind of like in the U.S.
I just recently spent some time in Spain. The Plant Manager for the plant that I was auditing is from France, as is his wife. He invited me to dinner at his house and we had a very lively conversation. His wife had some pretty liberal ideas, but was very nice and very respectful of my ideals. All in all I learned that the majority of the French people do not hate Americans, they just don't like our government's policies (join the club). Also, I found out there is a very strong movement afoot over there to curb the Muslim influence that is occuring.0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
10 comments