James Blunt claims to have prevented The Third World War

No, he really does claim that his actions saved all of us from burning to death under a hail of nuclear weapons.

James Blunt claims a US general had ordered him and his troops to seize an airfield in Pristina that had already been occupied by Russian troop:

"I was given the direct command to overpower the 200 or so Russians who were there.

"The soldiers directly behind me were from the Parachute Regiment, so they're obviously game for the fight.

"The direct command [that] came in from Gen Wesley Clark was to overpower them. Various words were used that seemed unusual to us. Words such as 'destroy' came down the radio."

It turns out if you read the story a bit more closely, it turns out Blunt didn't actually face down the general at all:

If Gen Jackson had not blocked the order from Gen Clark, who as Nato Supreme Commander Europe was his superior officer, Blunt said he would still have declined to follow it, even at the risk of a court martial.

So Michael Jackson, the other one, stopped a confrontation. A confrontation which might have escalated into a battle, which could, possibly, have turned into a war, which might have gone nuclear. But if Jackson hadn't, Blunt says he would have done.

In other words, Blunt would have perhaps prevented the very vague risk of a Third World War if someone more senior hadn't done their job properly. Sleep well tonight.

[Thanks to Michael M]