India is better prepared

I finally saw the movie ‘United 93’ on HBO today. It was painful to watch although it is an excellent movie based on the events on that terrible day in September, 2001. Reviews say that the movie has accurately recreated the events in the air traffic control towers on that day. USA was totally unprepared then with Air Force jets flying aimlessly not knowing what to look for, and what to do! I have an uneasy feeling that this country is still in the same shape for any catastrophe of that magnitude. The slow reaction of the government to hurricane Katrina, and the recent tornado in Kansas, confirm my fears.

To be frank, I have more confidence in the intelligence gathering and disaster recovery capabilities of India, a third world country! In India, the criminal intelligence appears to be on top of things, having stopped a few grand plots by the Islamist terrorists (not the type where a few lost souls shop for guns to shoot up a military camp!). Despite of limited resources, which may look primitive by USA standards, India has demonstrated an uncanny ability to recover quickly from a disaster. (The city of Mumbai was back to normal the day after a train bombing there in July 2006, and the stock market rose!).