"Consider the idea that the Martians might decide to make war on us - and win.  They might, you know, and we have no way of guessing how big a club they can swing.  Our boy Smith might be the go-between, the peacemaker, who could make the First Interplanetary War unnecessary.  Even if this possibility is remote, the administration can't afford to ignore it until they know.  The discovery of intelligent life on Mars is something that, politically, they haven't figured out yet."