i think the point is that it's a weapon, a very effective one at that, and if you refuse to use it then you are putting yourself at a massive disadvantage against an enemy who is willing to use it.
in general terms: if you're in an arms race and unilaterally refuse to escalate, then you might win the moral high ground in your own eyes, but your enemy will win the actual war, and as history is written by the victor, your moral high ground circlejerk will be forgotten and lost to time, and the only memory that remains of you is that of your defeat.