How a Singer Helped Stop World War Three

As we prepare to go to war for another four years, for no good reason, here's a reminder of the insanity it can trigger.

In a BBC radio interview last night, Blunt said: "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.

"Fortunately," Blunt recalled, "up on the radio came General Sir Mike Jackson [commander of the British forces], whose words were, 'I'm not going to have my soldiers start World War Three.'

And why decent people have an obligation to speak up.

"For me, if anyone wants to be labelled pro-war, they would be obscene," he said. "War is an absolutely terrible, ghastly thing."

So much for NATO. So much for those who would keep us in a war so easily.

When there are so many nobler things we could do.

I'm not a fan of James Blunt's music. 

But this song has never sounded more poignant...