LONDON (AFP) - The former head of Britain's armed forces has warned against planned cuts in the standing army, saying they would leave it "dangerously small and over-committed."
Lord Charles Guthrie told The Sunday Telegraph that the British army "has become dangerously small for what it is being asked to do."
"Of course, if you have too small an army you can't react," said Guthrie, a former chief of both the army general staff and the defense staff who holds the title of colonel commandant of the Special Air Service.
His comments were published a day ahead of the expected announcement of government restructuring plans for the armed forces.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour government has already detailed its plans to reduce troop numbers and merge several regiments, in reforms which are expected to save 250 million pounds (480 million dollars, 360 million euros) per year, according to The Sunday Telegraph.
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