As much as I hate military, in real live there is a enormous overlap between space exploration and military. E.g. a lot of technology in space is dual-use. A lot of stuff, such as rockets used for launching space probes, where developed for or by the military. A considerable number of astronauts still have a military background. The list goes on ...
If this is going to be a full-scale discussion on space [exploration], we need to allow it. No matter how unfortunate this is.