Posted on 11/14/2010 7:06:05 PM PST by Free ThinkerNY
BRITISH singer James Blunt said his refusal to obey orders from an American general helped avert an international incident, and a potential Third World War.
The Youre Beautiful singer, a former captain in the Life Guards - the senior regiment of the British Army - said in an interview today he risked a court martial by countermanding an order from General Wesley Clark to attack Russian forces.
Blunt, then 25, was in command of British troops ordered to take control of Pristina Airfield in Kosovo in June 1999, during the Balkan conflict.
However, 200 Russian soldiers got there first, and Blunt was asked to remove them.
He said in an interview for BBC radio program Pienaars Politics that Col Clark wanted him to destroy the Russians.
Blunt, now 36 and a patron of the UK Help for Heroes charity, was at the head of a column of 30,000 NATO troops with his unit.
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 theyre obviously game for the fight," he said.
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, he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
Ashley Wilkes.
Entertainers. Is there anything they can’t do?
In all seriousness, if it can be shown that Clark gave that order, Blunt’s assertions may not be all bluster.
In the early 80’s there was a Soviet Officer who single handedly stopped a nuclear war by refusing to give the launch command.
Who knows how many times tragedy has been averted because of one person.
This is a bizarre little story.
Self important little singer.
The story about Wes Clark nearly starting WWIII in Kosovo has been around for years. It’s been very well documented.
The James Blunt angle is an amusing new twist. But I don’t doubt for one moment that Blunt is infinitely brighter than Clark.
4-Star Generals do not issue orders to company/squadron level officers in the field. If such an order were issued (doubtful), it would have been issued by Clark to both the tactical commander and to the senior British Commander. Whatever orders Capt. Song Boy got were received from his Squadron Commander (Major) or Regimental Commander (Lt. Col.)
I have known Wes Clark for years. He is an A$$hole 1st Class with diamonds and oak leaves, so I’m not trying to protect his sorry reputation. But, this story is hitting about 9.5 on the smell meter.
” ... if it can be shown that Clark gave that order, Blunts assertions may not be all bluster. ... “
I remember hearing this story when it happened. Shortly after this, Clark was relieved of nato command.
I believe it’s a true story, and every time I see this scumbag on TV as a commentator, my stomach turns. He was promoted through the ranks by Bill Clinton.
This is an old story. Interesting but not new.
Weasely also brought us Waco, IIRC.
From the article:...(Blunt speaking)"Fortunately, up on the radio came [commander of the British forces] General Mike Jackson, whose exact words at the time were, Im not going to have my soldiers be responsible for starting World War III...He told us, why dont we encircle the airfield instead?...
Retired Chief of the JCS, retired general Hugh Shelton in his recent book “Without Hesitation” tells the same story of crazy Wes Clark.
The facts of this story have been known since its occurance,
More on Weasley here
If he was a former Captain in the British Military, they are in sorry shape.
I can not imagine him taking on a Girl Scout troop let alone a Russian formation.
Maybe Gen Clark thought Blunt could scare the Russians off with lewd sexual advances...
This story has been discussed here years ago when the Perfumed Prince was running for President. The MSM never touched the story and will not do so now.
I wasn’t there, but some of the details are coming back. IIRC, The perfumed prince was huffing and puffing and playing a game of chicken with the Ruskies. He was not happy that they rushed to Prsitna. I think that Jackson called his bluff and Clark backed off. Capt. Blunt may have been there, but he would have been a little meerkat in the middle of two bull elephants.
1. We had no business being in Kosovo in the first place. We had no dog in that fight.
2. Statement #1 above aside, we were, in a strategic sense, backing the wrong side in Kosovo. We were, essentially, backing muslims against anti-muslims.
3. IMHO, one of the reasons Western civilization will eventually fall (and guess to who) is that we continuously antagonize the Russians instead of developing a deep strategic partnership with them.
Comments please?
Clark was/is a weasel.
*IMHO, one of the reasons Western civilization will eventually fall (and guess to who) is that we continuously antagonize the Russians instead of developing a deep strategic partnership with them.*
There was that pesky Communism thing going for a century or so. That kind of got in the way.
Still is, only now it’s our Communism getting in the way.
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