My analysis is not to praise the government or the effectiveness of its response. I spent 5 years in the federal government (ending in 1992). I would never suggest that competence runs high in the government. (Another reason why the conspiracy theories are silly. The government can't even run our public schools right. How do you think they would pull off some great conspiracy?)
So I don't doubt that Christie Todd Whitman was more interested in making the government look good, trying to calm people down, and trying to achieve a surface solution to a problem, not genuinely dealing with the real problems. That would be quite typical for the government to pretend everything is okay, and hope the problem goes away. After all, that is how we got hit on 9/11 to begin with.
Also, someone sent me a link to an outstanding video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2070972464271621938
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2070972464271621938
The men, women, and children cheering at the beginning says it all. Our pain and sorrow is their euphoria.