But even those microbes are very sparse. The salinity simply is not conducive to life.
True, but never the less life is there.
Are you stating there is possibly life under the Martian ice? And yes, the ice itself is pretty dead.
Yes there is a possibility that there is life in one form or another under the martian ice, I personally don't think it's very likely. But again
proving that ice was there was worth a lot of money to the government. And there is a lot of life under our ice.
Just because there is liquid water does not mean there is life, as you so nonchalantly put it ("water = life"). How do you know even if water is essential for other forms of life in the universe? You're and every other "there's life out there" nutcase are basing your views on what you see here on Earth. If there is life elsewhere, it isn't going to be anything like us or any other creature on Earth.
Used to be the very smart people thought there had to be a perfect trifecta of sun light, water and oxygen to make "life." Scientists were looking for "earthlike" planets a certain distance from stars of a certain size. It has now been shown that all you need is water and food. The planet itself (under the dead arctic no less) produces the food in the form of superheated vents letting chemical compounds into the water. Water = Life. Once we have ice theoretically all we need is volcanic activity under the ice and you never know what will result.
And based on the numbers of planet that are being found it is the "we are all freaking alone" crowd that are the nutcases.
BTW I never said there are going to be people or zebras running around the solar system, with the right building blocks I believe it is possible for microbial life to take shape. Who's to say wether or not it will go anywhere or what ultimate form it might take based on the environmental conditions of the planet of origin.