About 36 hours ago, in the aftermath of the UN Security Council’s vote to punish Iran with yet another round of sanctions because of its nuclear program, a rumour circulated that Russia would freeze delivery to Iran of the long-awaited S-300 missile defence system.

The story, reported by Reuters New Agency, was based on a media release from Interfax. It was widely – and excitedly – repeated by the mainstream TV networks.

President Putin meets 'Sarko the Sayan'

Hours later,  the Russian Foreign Ministry denied the reports, saying that only sale of mobile S-300s would be frozen. This retraction was not as widely reported as the initial Interfax report of cancellation.

Today comes another twist in the saga. Following a meeting in Paris between Russian President Putin and French President Sarkosy (Sarkosy is widely rumoured to be a Mossad agent), the Russian President left without fronting reporters’ questions.

According to the Xinhuanet.com news agency, Putin confirmed at his meeting that the sale os S-300′s would be totally frozen – see Putin says no missile sale to Iran: press. This was rapidly re-reported by Israeli newspaper Haaretz: Russia to freeze missile sale to Iran, Putin tells Sarkozy.

In the absence of a formal, high-level announcement from the Russian Government, it’s hard to know what’s really going on. The impression is that Israel – and its agents – are trying to ‘push’ Russia’s foreign policy. Unhappy with what the Russians are actually saying, they repeatedly put words into the Russian Government’s mouth.

Captain Alfred Dreyfus

Prologue: The First Dreyfus Affair

If you’ve never heard of the famous ‘Dreyfus Affair before, you may have skipped modern history at school.

Strictly speaking, it was a French affair – but it soon became famous far beyond the borders of France, in the 1890s and first decade of the 20th Century. The press gave the evolving saga feverish coverage.

French society was deeply shaken by the apparent scandal of injustice to a Jewish French Army captain, accused of spying for the Germans. Many took the side of Dreyfus and protested his innocence; others proclaimed his guilt. It was the ‘O.J. Simpson case’ of the era, with impacts that were considerably more significant.

Most popular historical accounts suggest Alfred Dreyfus was indeed innocent of the spying charges. I have no idea – but I’m quite prepared to accept that. My interest in mentioning the case is not to re-open it.

A French Family Discusses the Dreyfus Affair: before and after

In the mid-1890s, much of the French nation divided into ‘Dreyfusards’ and ‘anti-Dreyfusards. Families quarreled over the topic.

Eventually, Dreyfus was judged innocent, brought back from imprisonment on Devil’s Island and granted a Presidential pardon. But Europe was changed by the incident. The whole world was changed.

By the end of the Dreyfus Affair, there was a new political movement – complete with a ‘Founding Father’ – as well as a new, very widely-used term (with variants in numerous languages).

"And as for Gordon Brown..."

Regular readers of this blog may notice I occasionally take contrarian positions on matters subject to broad consensus.

It should be no surprise, therefore, that I seem to be the only blogger in the world with a good word to say about the well-publicized dinner conversation of diminutive French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Never mind Sarkozy’s crude jibes about Barak Obama. Who cares if he called the snivelling Angela Merkel a copy-cat? For all I know, he’s right about the Spanish PM’s intelligence.

What caught my eye are comments Sarkozy made about journalists, which have been less widely reported:

“Journalists are zeros” an enraged Mr Sarkozy reportedly said. “You have to spit in their faces, walk on them, crush them. They are bandits.

“Worse than bandits. Bandits at least have some morality.”

Sarkozy is a runt and may a Mossad agent, but at least he has a clue about the media.