LONDON, June 21 (UPI) -- A plan to cut British troops to the lowest level since the 1850s Crimean War is "sheer lunacy," the editor of a top military guide said.
Britain's defense ministry has proposed cutting three infantry battalions -- about 1,800 soldiers -- which would reduce overall troop numbers to less than 100,000, The Times of London reported Sunday.
"If we were to withdraw from Afghanistan it would be fine but with the government saying operations there will go on for 10 years it is sheer lunacy," said Charles Heyman, a former officer who edits The Armed Forces of the United Kingdom.
"It will do severe damage to morale within the infantry and within the wider army," Heyman predicted.
While defense officials declined to discuss the plan publicly, the budget cuts were the focus of a high-level meeting last week in London, an anonymous military source told the Times.
"This is the opening move in what could be the bloodiest spending round yet," the source told the Times.
