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 b reak
one of the French engineers came back into the room saying "Have you he ard
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 B oeing 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 Admi ral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals
from the U.S., English, C anadian, 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 t have to speak
German.'
You could have heard a pin drop!
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 b reak
one of the French engineers came back into the room saying "Have you he ard
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 B oeing 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 Admi ral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals
from the U.S., English, C anadian, 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 t have to speak
German.'
You could have heard a pin drop!