Off to Mars - A prediction for the International Space Station

Here is a prediction for the International Space Station (ISS) that I made some years ago, prior to the creation of this blog. My prediction was that it would be sold to one of the private space-focused companies, who would then attach rockets to it and use it as the space ship to take them to Mars orbit. There they would dock with one of Mars' moons and potentially start excavating a radiation proof base to act as a future orbiting space station for Mars. Whether they would actually descend to Mars' surface on that first mission would depend on whether their finances had stretched to bringing along a descent vehicle with them.
Docking with Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos, would be something the ISS could handle because these moons are so small that they effectively have no gravity and so approaching them would be just a matter of parking next to them, like docking with a satellite in Earth orbit. Descending to Mars' surface would require a separate, far more robust, vehicle and a great deal more fuel. And might be left to a follow up mission.

If this can be done why wouldn't the combined governments attempt it rather than leaving the glory to a private company?
Firstly, because private companies and individuals can take risks and cut corners that governments would be pilloried for, and secondly; the combined ownership of the ISS might make mission organisation and decision making a nightmare that would further jeopardise the success of the mission.

Were the ISS to be successful in reaching and returning from a Mars moon trip it might well be used as a regular shuttle between Earth orbit and Mars orbit