Politics is a tangled web whose main ingredient is deception. It should be otherwise. People should be more ethical and truthful and have integrity, blah, blah, but it ain’t gonna happen.

By its very nature politics is a sinister game involving power and economics. We may support nations wanting to be independent but one man’s independence is another’s secession, disruption and anarchy. Who knows what’s happening over there in Georgia? Apparently, Southern Ossetia wants to be free of Georgia. Georgia does not want this because the Ossetians will align themselves with Russia. Georgia is friendly with the West, so somehow Europe and the U.S have become involved as well.

All of this is political intrigue but the sad part is that people are killing other people and, as usual, it’s not the leaders who suffer but the ordinary people. It’s the people who are injured, burned and destroyed. Thousands have fled their homes and now the aid agencies have come into play.

Here we go again.

We have seen this situation repeat itself countless times on this befuddled planet and nothing has been learned about the stupidity of violence.

Russia has said that a peace treaty has been signed but the Russian troops or “peacekeepers”, as Putin and Medvedev call them, are still around.

Russian leaders are known for saying one thing and doing something else. I’m surprised their middle name isn’t Pinnochio. We have seen Putin in action over Iraq. We have seen him sabotaging so many peace initiatives while pretending to support them. Russian politicians are notorious for supplying arms to rogue states and of course, they really don’t like the west, in spite of buying up elegant mansions in London.

The conflict with the West will persist because the leadership can’t stand the fact that Russia’s empire has broken up. They miss the power of power.

I have no solutions but I despair for the suffering of the people.

I am sure that the ordinary folk of Georgia, Ossetia and Russia just want to live in peace and safety. It’s always the few radicals and the power-hungry leaders who cause so much tragedy in this world.

If there is one bright light in all this mess, it is Prime Minster Sarkozy of France. He is a true world statesman who actually spoke to the Russians and the Georgians and brokered a peace treaty, of sorts. At least he tried and you have to give him credit for the effort. Unlike his predecessors, Sarkozy is often involved in trying to bring about peace and I continue to admire him.

I suppose that, like Sarkozy, we have to keep trying to bring peace to the world because if we stop trying then things will be even worse. Meanwhile, those caught up in the current fiasco are suffering while the leaders play their games.