[speed220mph]

Not meant to offend anyone, but here are a few true stories about us "wicked" Americans.

> 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.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> 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 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...
>
> A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to
> France on a tour. 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 '44 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find any damn Frenchmen
> to show it to.'
>
> You could have heard a pin drop
>
>