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. 
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   Then there wa s 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 t he 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 h ave 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, an d 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. 
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  A U. S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference t hat 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. 
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  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 C ustoms, 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 t hat 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