Robert Hinde, Chair, British Pugwash Group, Letter to The Guardian, 23 January 2008.
The five retired military commanders suggest that a Nato policy involving readiness to make pre-emptive strikes is necessary to counter political fanatics and international terrorism… But a nuclear strike is unlikely to deter a political fanatic and would be ineffective against terrorists….We must choose between a world ruled by threat, or one ruled by law and mutual understanding. Most of us would prefer the latter. The first step towards it must be to take all nuclear weapons off alert and a commitment to no first use.