A former British army commander has accused Prime Minister Tony Blair’s armed forces budget cuts of risking the lives of British soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Writing in the Independent on Sunday, General Sir Michael Rose, who led troops in Bosnia, said the funding cuts have put their lives at “considerable and quite unnecessary risk.” His criticism follows calls in the last week for extra support from Major General Richard Shirreff, the commander of British forces in Basra, the main city in southern Iraq. Full Story