Anytime you have a committee or a beaurocracy involved, there are just too many points of view, each with a different life experience and often different set of facts. Achieving consensus becomes almost impossible esp when they are all worried about the second-guessers and Monday morning quarterbacks.
A single person, or small closely matched group can make decisions and act according to real-time data. That is one advantages that the terrorists have as they go about trying to beat our defenses. And the element of surprise and confusion helps significantly too.
At the lowest level, it is individuals and small bands of individuals that make the difference in many cases. And large warheads and planes to drop them from.
I look forward to your thoughts on the film.
Slightly OT: As I read the comments here about this movie, I wondered how I would react (as a passenger). I decided that once I had wrapped my brain around the fact that I was going to die, I'd be totally ticked off and ready to fight...to do something, anything!
And then, yesterday I learned the cost of pausing to think. I made a face at a crazy driver in Sam's Club's parking lot. He was going too fast, and driving right towards me. I made a face at him and swerved (flipping people off is no longer allowed, amazing what grandchildren can make their "Mimi" do!)
I parked my car, looked around for my Sam's card, my phone, my keys...and then someone was pounding on my window. I rolled it down, and this grizzly lookin' old man was standing there, face so red he shoulda stroked out. He stuck his finger inside the window and yelled, "You gotta problem?!". I said no, do you? And then he proceeds to tell me what an awful driver I am, and how I better fix my attitude. As he's yelling at me, lots of people are stopping and staring, and he's getting his head darn close to being inside my window. I froze. I let him keep yelling and getting closer. Then, when I was scared enough, I remembered to push the button (dummy!) and closed the window on him. He yelled "Yeah, you better shut that window!" and stormed off.
What I learned: Jackknife on dash does no good if it's not in my hand. Use the darn camera on the cell phone! Move faster, get his license plate number. Just because people are standing by, don't count on them for help. Most of all, don't open the damn window!
What upset me was that he tracked me thru the lot, chased me down. And I, being such a nice girl, would of course open my window for a complete stranger... what if he needed help? And it took me way too long to react. "Fight or flight" took too long to kick in. I learned that even the most innocent looking situation can get you hurt. I know to most of you this is just so small potatoes, but in my town, hell, in my LIFE, people are (used to be) nice. And now I know that my thinking time would have been much shorter had I been suspicious, and on my guard. This was partially my fault, I opened the window. So, now I'm pretty sure that I'd be going down fighting. (oh, and swearing up a blue streak!)
Since 9-11, there've been a lot of flights where the passengers "took care of" suspicious people. I know why. Apologies for the length and OT.