This was emailed to me today.  I am a naturalized citizen of the United States of America.  Lately we (Americans) have taken a lot of heat over policy.  I just had to pass this on.......

         You could have heard a pin drop
  
  
  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."

Ø     
  You could have heard a pin drop. 
  
  
  
  If you are proud to be an American, pass this on!
  
  If not, delete it.