Bashing USA?

Source: from an email I received today :)

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 fres h 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, Canadi an,
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 i n 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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.