22 AUGUST 1987, Page 18

Falkland motives

Sir: My friend Michael Horovitz may believe that there was 'no valid use or reason' (Letters, 8 August) for the Falk- land campaign and the deaths caused by it. While not wishing to deny that it could have been avoided, it seems to me that there came a moment when the whole Falkland war became a necessary act of government policy.

If we had not fought over an issue where we were basically the victims of unjustified aggression (however incompetent our earlier diplomacy might have been), and which we should have been in a position to win without difficulty (though we very nearly didn't), no country would ever again have taken our military deterrent and our will to use it seriously.

Graham Tayar

25 Fortress Road, London NW5