22 JANUARY 1983, Page 19

Sir: We can and must 'have it both ways' (pace

A. S. Hull, Letters, 15 January). Nuclear bombs are illogical weapons, useless if used and effective if unused, reflecting some of the illogic of human nature itself. CND would argue logically, and wrongly, 'How can one defend oneself by threatening to start a war that will destroy civilisation?' The answer is that everybody already knows that it does not make sense, and yet the fact is we have defended ourselves in this way for several decades now.

Robert Gibson 74 Turners Hill, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire