Three-fer

The Bush government has recently announced its strategy for the expected avian flu pandemic.
It looks a lot like its other recent strategies.
Essentially, the plan states that a lot of us are going to die, and there's nothing to be done about it. The details are mostly concerned on how to quarantine the diseased and maintain the country's infrastructure until the flu runs its course.

I presume that the strategy for handling a biological attack from terrorists is the same. Everybody pray, ride out the storm, then spend like mad to repair the damage.

Why can't we do better than this? Where are our strategic planners? It's been several years since 9/11, and as the president says, they're still out there. Why haven't we prepared for this? Must EVERYTHING that happens take this government by surprise?