23 APRIL 1983, Page 19

Zuckerman's war

Sir: Lord Zuckerman's excellent article 'Nuclear storm warnings' (9 April) seems to me to contain one error. 'The Russians,' he writes, 'believe that NATO forces may one day push through the iron curtain into War- saw Pact territory.' Do the Russians really fear this? How could NATO possibly suc- ceed against the Russians' huge standing ar- my? Surely it is the necessity of maintaining such forces, imposed upon them by their system and their empire, which is at the root of the whole problem, if one pushes the analysis back far enough?

J. W. Harper

23 Duchy Road, Harrogate