Each to his own Mr Pig and yes, if you're careful and only sand off the paint, there is little problem, just seems the risk is a little high to me unless it is absolutely necessary and you know what you are doing. Sort of sledgehammer to crack a nut from my own personal viewpoint. I've seen a number of guitars, particularly SGs with their sharp edges and Firebirds with the raised centre section, which to put it mildly have not benefited from previous sanding efforts. The impression I get from a couple of expert forums is that luthiers generally tend not to favour the sanding approach unless nothing else works.
Incidentally, I have absolutely no reason to believe Nitromors damages wood, nor have I seen any damage from personal experience over a number of years and many, many, guitars and different woods. I can't imagine any chemical reason why the wood would suffer either. I do make sure that all remnants are cleaned off, but you would (or should!) do that anyway before refinishing.