Superpower?

NOLA.com: T-P Orleans Parish Breaking News Weblog

The devastation that hurricane Katrina brought to the US Gulf coast - with the city of New Orleans "the epicenter of chaos and misery" - seems to defy belief. There is talk of thousands of people having lost their lifes.

It is nearly unavoidable that relief efforts are seen as inadequate in a situation like this. Perfect relief operation have yet to be invented by mankind.

But even while taking this into account it is difficult to avoid the impression that the Number One Superpower has been caught in a situation that exposes some of its vulnerabilities and shortcomings in a very brutal way.

There is likely to be an acrimonious debate as things start to settle down and focus shifts from the immediate needs to the larger questions of what could have been done to prevent this massive damage.

In the meantime, the local media gives the world a window towards how that debate is shaping up.