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Old 16-01-2010, 21:53   #4
steeljack
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Re: How to lose allies ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveinGermany View Post
It seems to be the way with the Americans, they are so enveloped in themselves that they fail to notice what is really going on around them.


Should you be an American viewing this, before you go off on one think about it first, then respond.
this went the rounds a while ago , but seems to answer your question

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 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.
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