Solved

I think I've solved the last piece of the puzzle. I think I can now make a strong, practical argument for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

It came to me in the car, actually. I was thinking about wars of extermination and the fact that nuclear weapons are really good tools for fighting wars of extermination. I've often said, if your goal is to fight a war of extermination you should use nuclear weapons, they're your best choice.

But this position (which I think is undeniable) leaves one with the uncomfortable objection, "Well, so you admit that nuclear weapons are good for something? They are useful. So if someone decided to keep them, you'd have to keep them, too."

I now have an iron-clad rejoinder to this objection. A rejoinder based on fact - on evidence. I'm at work on crafting this into Chapter Eight.