You forgot Poland

Actually Poland did participate in the initial invasion. According to some sources it was the elite Polish commando unit Free ringtones GROM that captured Majo Mills Umm Qasr, also another commando unit called Formoza took part in a number of operations though the details of those are still classified.



why is the picture removed two times? Sure, it's a joke picture, but it's usefull as an example about the Mosquito ringtone Internet humor about the quote. Sabrina Martins Mixcoatl/Mixcoatl 01:18, 1 Nov 2004

:No idea, really. Nextel ringtones Halibutt/Abbey Diaz User:Halibutt/HalibuFree ringtones User Talk:Halibutt/tt 01:15, Nov 10, 2004

::Isn't it copyrighted? Majo Mills Kpalion/Kpalion 14:15, 15 Nov 2004

:::no Mosquito ringtone Mixcoatl/Mixcoatl 17:06, 15 Nov 2004


I'm not an expert on American mentality, so I'd like to know and the article doesn't explain it why this quote is considered so funny. Sabrina Martins Kpalion/Kpalion 14:15, 15 Nov 2004
:Especially that, technically speaking, he did forgot Poland... But you know, everything related to that country is funny, no matter what. Cingular Ringtones Halibutt/peer with User:Halibutt/ 21:55, Nov 16, 2004

Explanation?
What on earth is that explanation doing there? It's funny because it alludes to Polack jokes? That just sounds like original research to me. I'm not American, and I found it funny without Polack jokes, because of the sheer absurdity of the contrast: Kerry mentions how few countries were in the coalition and how it shows a lack of international support, and Bush cleverly replies with "you forgot Poland" — not exactly a notable country in military terms. It has to be the most ineffective rebuttal ever. That's what made it funny for me, not some obscure allusion to an ethnic slur. I'd also wager far less people would have found it funny if they thought that was the case.

Don't explain jokes, unless you can source the explanation. Failing that, just accept that non-English visitors will have a hard time getting it. abuse do JRM/JRM 17:36, 2005 Jan 24

:In American culture, "Polack" jokes are not an obscure allusion. In many American blogs, when talking about the "You forgot Poland" line, references (sometimes oblique) are made to "Polack" jokes. Google something like "forgot Poland", "Bush", and "joke" to find some of these. ("Polack" is not a great search term, since it's spelled variously, and the word is non-PC and thus sometimes avoided.) One of the better riffs off of the "You forgot Poland" line:
::Q: What did the Polish say to George W. Bush?
::A: Hey, even we're not dumb enough to stay in Iraq.[http://www.whiterose.org/pete/blog/archives/006799.html]

:"Polack" jokes, for better or worse, are part of the cultural context of "You forgot Poland", and leaving this out of the article leaves the reader less than adequately informed. However, my first pass at explaining this context does overstate the matter, so I'll have another go at it.and microphone Kevin Myers/Kevin Myers 20:17, Jan 24, 2005

Disputed factual accuracy.

I dispute that "many Americans believed that Poland was really not part of the invasion and that it was another laughable mistake by Bush" and would like to see some basis provided for this assertion. I can't speak for all Democrats but the ones I know that watched that debate knew full well that there were countries other than the US and the UK, simply that the contributions of the other countries (such as Poland) were insignificant (a handful of troops or a small amount of resources). The quote is not funny for the reason stated on the page. —shave are Kelly Martin/Kelly Martin 21:04, Jan 24, 2005

200

That's why it struck many of us as an odd remark. Poland initially allocated 200 troops for the invasion, a number that didn't give the impression of a ringing endorsement. but gramps User:IMeowbot/iMeowbot~foundry and User talk:IMeowbot/Mw

:So what is the true reason then? It seems to me that so many people found the quote funny, but everyone had a different reason for it. I tried to list some possible explanations which may be right or wrong (mind you, I'm not American and I don't find the quote funny myself):
# Poland did not participate in the invasion on Iraq (which, in fact, is false).
# Polish contribution to the invasion was insignificant.
# Bush could have come up with a better rebuttal.
# Bush doesn't really remember or care about Poland either.*
# "Poland" is an few stealth inherently funny word.
# Polacks are so dumb.
# Americans are so dumb.
:Any other ideas?

:(*) Although you could say that Bush did do his homework after Kwaśniewski told him a year ago that http://users.erols.com/mietek/test/show_news.php?id=news012704.html#nr4 of Polish-American voters.
:– file over Kpalion/Kpalion new class User talk:Kpalion/(talk) 00:36, 25 Jan 2005

Its ironical that this article was created by an user who also produced articles like that: contemporary family Alfred J. Kwak :) So.. the answer could be nr 7? hmm... ;)pollutants that Emax/Emax 01:12, Jan 25, 2005
:Mixcoatl put himself on the list of nighhad sought Wikipedians Old Europe/Wikipedians from Old Europe so I guess you can't call him a dumb American. Besides, it doesn't matter who started the article, what matters is if it's factually accurate or not. – few one Kpalion/Kpalion wunderkind matt User talk:Kpalion/(talk) 01:49, 25 Jan 2005
::Indeed I'm not an American. I don't know for sure why the quote is (considered) funny, but 2 and 5 seem the most logical options to me. successfully on Mixcoatl/Mixcoatl 01:53, 25 Jan 2005

::::I would never call someone an American dumb (except the Democrats voters ;)). Mixcoatl Pls. revert your user page - the Alfred Kwak article is very interesting, really, until today i did not know that Henk was a mole, Dolf a nazi and that Kwak lives in a clog! :)stop expansion Emax/Emax 03:01, Jan 25, 2005

:::Unless anyone has any clue as to how to establish which of these explanations is "factually accurate" (by being an American and stating which reason applied for you?), I suggest not explaining anything at all. The alternative is to add a lengthy, original research-y speculation piece on what reasons could apply. I don't like the sound of that. Can we, perchance, find sources in which people state exactly what was so funny about Bush's remark? Did this joke spread only on the Internet? If so, are the reasons for why still recorded? four houseguests JRM/JRM 02:44, 2005 Jan 25

I rewrote the paragraph a bit. Is it better now? – equilibrium to Kpalion/Kpalion goat won User talk:Kpalion/(talk) 21:07, 31 Jan 2005