Reported to be an actual letter froma marine with the
multinational force in <?
amespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn
chemas-microsoft-com
ffice
arttags" /><st1
ountry-region><st1
lace>Bosnia</st1
lace></st1
ountry-region>:
Dear Dad,
A funny thing happened to me yesterday at <st1
lace><st1
lace>Camp</st1
lace> <st1
laceName>Bondsteel</st1
laceName></st1
lace> (<st1
ountry-region><st1
lace>Bosnia</st1
lace></st1
ountry-region>). A French army officer walked up to me in the PX, and told me he thought we (Americans) were a bunch of cowboys and were going to provoke a war in <st1
ountry-region><st1
lace>Iraq</st1
lace></st1
ountry-region>. He said if such a thing happens, we wouldn't be able to count on the support of <st1
ountry-region><st1
lace>France</st1
lace></st1
ountry-region>.
I told him that it didn't surprise me. Since we had come to France's rescue in World War I, World War II, Vietnam, and the Cold War, their ingratitude and jealousy was due to surface [again] at some point in the near future anyway. I also told him that is why <st1
ountry-region><st1
lace>France</st1
lace></st1
ountry-region> is a third-rate military power with a socialist economy and a bunch of pansies for
soldiers. I additionally told him that <st1
ountry-region><st1
lace>America</st1
lace></st1
ountry-region>, being a nation of deeds and action, not words, would do whatever it had to do, and <st1
ountry-region><st1
lace>France</st1
lace></st1
ountry-region>'s support, if it ever came, was only for show anyway.
Just like in ALL NATO exercises, the <st1
ountry-region><st1
lace>US</st1
lace></st1
ountry-region> would shoulder 85% of the burden, and provide 85% of the support, as evidenced by the fact that this French officer was shopping in the American PX, and not the other way around. He began to get belligerent at that point, and I told him if he would like to, I would meet him outside in front of the Burger
King and whip his ass in front of the entire Multi-National Brigade East, thus demonstrating that even the smallest American had more fight in him than the average Frenchman. He called me a barbarian cowboy and walked away in a huff.
With friends like these, who needs enemies?
Dad, tell Mom I love her,
Your loving daughter,
Mary Beth Johnson
<st1
lace><st1:City>Lt</st1:City> <st1
ountry-region>Col.</st1
ountry-region></st1
lace>, USMC<BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><?
amespace prefix = o ns = "urn
chemas-microsoft-com
ffice
ffice" />