The American military can be justifiably proud of its history in race relations. It was one of the earliest and largest institutions to practice real integration and mean it.

I have no idea where that columnist is coming from. A lot of liberal pundit thinking has drifted off to the point where I can't even pull it up on my radar any more.

I don't know what America spends on its individual troops (salaries, care, medical, benefits, retirement, etc.). It's a lot harder than simply dividing out the budget numbers, and even medical care numbers can't be directly compared (obviously military and civilian medical costs are apples and oranges).