British crooner James Blunt has told the BBC that while serving as an officer in the army in Kosovo, he disobeyed an order to attack Russian troops. James Blunt is a war hero! He also has a new album out.

Blunt was speaking with BBC Radio about the time in 1999 when he disobeyed an order from US General Wesley Clark — commander of NATO forces in Kosovo — to attack a unit of Russian soldiers who were holding a strategic airfield. He refused the order, and was backed up by his superior, General Sir Mike Jackson, who told him, "I'm not going to have my soldiers be responsible for starting World War 3." That's right — besides being a badass performer, James Blunt doesn't take any shit from bloodthirsty American generals hell bent on destroying the earth. Here's his take:

I was given the direct command to overpower the 200 or so Russians who were there. I was the lead officer with my troop of men behind us ... 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 General Wesley Clark was to overpower them. Various words were used that seemed unusual to us. Words such as 'destroy' came down the radio."

We all owe James Blunt a big "thank you" for saving us from a nuclear catastrophe. As a token of thanks, why not buy his brand new, totally awesome album that he's out promoting right now?

[Image via Getty]