Well, it is closer and could serve as a proof of concept for Mars. And with the right weapons systems it would make the nation controlling them defacto #1 on earth.

Terraforming: why the Moon is a better target than Mars

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]No matter how advanced our civilization here on Earth becomes, there’s a sobering fact we have no choice but to reckon with: Earth’s resources are finite.

That not only includes the resources we typically think of, like minerals, clean water, and breathable air, but also something even more fundamental and restrictive: land area. No matter how thoroughly we develop, there’s only a finite amount of continental land area to inhabit on our planet.

[/COLOR][COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)]While “floating cities” on the seas and oceans may someday become a possibility, the finite surface area of planet Earth ensures that, beyond a certain point, we’ll need to leave our home planet if we want our civilization to continue to grow. Although many of us have dreamed of living on another world, [/COLOR]we have yet to find even a hint of life on a world beyond Earth[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.9)], much less a fully inhabited planet or one habitable by humans. If we want a world to be suitable for us to live on, it looks like our only option will be to transform a presently uninhabitable planet into one that humans can survive on — a process called terraforming. Despite the popular sentiment that Mars is the right world to terraform within our solar system, there may be an even better option closer to home: the Moon. Here’s the science of why.[/COLOR]
Read the science of why at the link.