<1) It's awfully expensive! How many lives would we save if we spent it instead on homeland security, embassy security, and international intelligence?

It's less expensive than pretty much any major city, never mind the lives. The other things you mention are also essential parts of our overall defense, and are hopefully also getting the funding needed.

This is not a primary motivator for me on this subject, but as a space nut, I must admit I am also hoping that there will be a lot of positive fallout for space exploitation in general from an extensive military space program (assuming a space-based ABM system is eventually funded).

2) It's a bad way to do diplomacy.



a. We should have and could have worked out something with the Russians that would help them save face. They are our friends, now. We should try to keep them so.



I don't think the Russians are really bent out of shape about this, from what I have read so far. Putin and Bush seem to be on the same page on a lot of things.

b. This fosters our image around the world as a superpower that does anything it wants to and ignores everyone elses' opinion.

Considering what "everyone else's opinion" usually is, Thank God for this.