The death toll from the Monday’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria has now surpassed 20,000 and continues to rise. Though the outpouring of support from people around the world transcends national boundaries, the politics of disaster recovery, with its slow churn of bureaucracy, is getting in the way of saving lives. The need for international aid and understanding is dire, particularly in an area already devastated by civil war and where the Syrian dictator uses humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip.

In a visit Wednesday to an area where entire blocks have disappeared, Turkish President Recep Erdogan acknowledged "some issues" with the response and transportation and promised that all those made homeless will have new housing within a year. He also declared a national state of emergency and deployed federal troops, yet this is not enough to make up for regional fuel shortages, lack of trained local rescue teams, and what people inside Turkey are calling a slow governmental