It is a dark week for international tragedies.

Sure enough, the cyclone's damage in Myanmar is now being truly
revealed.

Of course, it takes time to assess the damage, but like with other
natural disasters, the suffering is truly coming into focus now, 11
days after the cyclone ripped through the nation formerly known as
Burma.

UN officials say the death toll could exceed 100,000, and the
International Red Cross puts it at between 68,000 and 128,000, both
according to The Associated Press.

More than the number of dead, the frustrating news is about the slow
response due to the government's inflexibility in dealing with
international organizations. It leads to possible comparisons to our
slow response to Katrina, showing what it takes to make our FEMA look
downright effective.

And while survivors need food, clean water and other supplies,
another storm has threatened the damaged areas, compounding the tragedy.

Meanwhile, in China, a massive response to the 7.9-magnitude
earthquake by the Chinese newspaper and television media has been
noticed by The AP. Details and personal stories of the suffering of
survivors and the mourning of the dead have poured out of the nation,
perhaps part of its acceptance of being in the world's spotlight with
the soon-to-arrive Olympic games.

With the official death toll at less than 15,000, it is accepted that
it will go up as tens of thousands remain missing in various areas.

Pile on with the bombings in India, it has been a depressing week of
international news, and with these tragedies in their early stages,
it is -- as we have seen in Myanmar -- likely going to revealed to be
much worse.