Posted in Manuel Buencamino by uniffors on the August 26th, 2010
Everybody is now an expert in hostage situations. They’re all over blogs, social networking sites, and mainstream media.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda sums up what those morning-after quarterbacks are saying about Monday’s tragedy. And it’s the same refrain I heard after the attack on WTC, the hostage-taking in Russia, the assault on the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas and a whole host of incidents that did not have a happy ending.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda is not for those who only know what they saw on TV. That was only a part of the entire thing. Viewers did not see what went on behind the scenes, what went on in the bus etc. etc. There are so many things to be looked into before anyone can say woulda, coulda, shoulda.
Authorities must do a post-game analysis so that mistakes made are not repeated. Monday’s incident is not the first nor will it be the last.
In situations like last Monday’s, the public needs to be assured that authorities know what they are doing so that even if things turn out badly there will be no loss of confidence in the capability of law enforcers.
No one can predict the outcome of a hostage situation so authorities have to look like they are ready for anything. Recall the Entebbe hijacking and the Israeli rescue operation. Some hostages were saved and others were killed but because the operation looked very efficient, the public focused on the hostages saved instead of those killed and the rescue was deemed a success.
Last Monday, unfortunately, it looked like the cops didn’t know what they were doing. And so experts mushroomed and the blame game became the most popular sport in town.
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