Britain's shrinking army emboldens U.S. foes - ex U.N. ambassador

LONDON (Reuters) - Cuts to Britain's defence spending are emboldening Washington's adversaries on the global stage, John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in a newspaper article on Monday, calling for a sharp rise in London's military capabilities. Britain, traditionally a staunch U.S. ally, is in the process of reducing its armed forces by around a sixth to help cut a large budget deficit. The reforms will leave the army with 82,000 soldiers in 2018, its smallest size since the Napoleonic Wars, and down from 102,000 in 2010. Ahead of an election on May 7, British Prime Minister David Cameron and the opposition Labour Party have refused to guarantee London will continue to spend 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defence. Bolton, who served as U.N. ambassador in the Republican administration of then president George W. Bush, said Britain's stance risked hurting the United States. "Our mutual adversaries immediately assume, all too accurately, that a weakened Britain reflects a weakened America, and they are emboldened," Bolton wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper. Citing the direction of Russia and China and the situation in the Middle East, Bolton said Britain's defence cuts and proposed cuts "could not come at a worse time, politically and militarily." Bolton's intervention is the latest in a series of warnings from U.S. politicians and military figures. Senior former and serving British military commanders have made similar pleas. Cameron has rejected U.S. criticism in the past, saying the country is engaged in a "massive" investment programme that will deliver new aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, destroyers and frigates. A spokeswoman at Britain's Ministry of Defence said she could not comment because it was a political matter. (Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Hugh Lawson)