What were the police waiting for? Common sense to return, things to quieten down of their own accord and the hooligans to calmly go back to their bolt holes? Citizens called for help but no help arrived and when it finally did, widespread damage had already occurred.
Too little help too late. It's not as if Britain hasn't seen riots and large scale hooliganism before. Their football fans are known for it and things can get out of control quickly.
Therefore the response has to be equally swift.
The recent rioting and civil unrest in Middle Eastern nations shows that disaffected youth, those who have nothing and don't see a future for themselves, don't care about the damage they do to property or the affects their actions will have on others. British youth are no different. And how many lives have now been shattered in these cities?
The many businesses, all probably trying to keep their heads above water in these difficult economic times. The homes that were deliberately targeted, looted and set on fire.
Livelihoods, dreams and aspirations all gone. It must have been a nightmare.
So why don't "nice people" fight back. The people crouching in their shops and houses hoping the looters would pass them by.
They shouldn't have hesitated.
There comes a time when you have to lay it on the line, be brave and do what you have to do.
They should have got their own baseball bats and weapons, mobilised their neighbours and charged into the fray.
Don't they have Dad's army or local territorials any more?
Where were all the ex-servicemen and servicewomen? And I don't mean from World War II.
These trained and disciplined people are in every neighbourhood.
Even in retirement their leadership in this situation would have been a godsend.
They should have taken charge of their neighbourhoods and dealt to the thugs.
Because it's only this show of force that louts seem to respect and start to take notice of.
A police force that can't comprehend what's happening for three days, and then still doesn't take decisive action, needs lessons from SAS personnel or Rambo-type guerrillas.
You can bet in every neighbourhood now in the affected cities they will be developing strategies to combat any similar disturbances and civil uprising.
I'm sure the police will be reviewing how they handled things as well.
At the same time, the British Government needs to look at what is obviously boiling away below the surface. Thousands of young people, many born into third-generation beneficiary families. They have no jobs and are not likely to in the future.
A recipe for disaster.
The Government may need to consider the decision made by Scotland some years ago, "we either invest in education, training and job creation or we build more prisons".
No-brainer, really.
