"Calling a voluteer military a "free lunch" is odd. The purpose of the military is to be the "uniforms that guard us when we sleep"-in other words to make sure that as many people can have a "free lunch" in that sense as is plausible.
I tend to think that using conscripts for Small Wars is ineffective(for, by necessity morale will be strained and conscripts cannot maintain the subtlety necessary). It is also unethical because few conscripts have an immiediate personal stake. Conscription should be reserved for times when the danger to the country is obvious, extrodinary, and immiediate.
In fact I think we should go the other way. Accept that Professionals are Professionals and don't worry to much when they are doing their jobs. We do our, "brave young men and women in uniform" no favors if we interfere with their task by sentimentilizeing them as if they were refighting World War II instead of dealing with what is basically another Savage War of Peace."<br>


In fact that is a very good reason to study war-to remind us that nothing unusual is happening. The whole point of terrorism is essentially theatrics. If we can acknowlege that it is a regretable part of life then it will be less effective.
That doesn't mean, "terrorism is a law-enforcement problem": it is the problem of whichever agency can deal with it conveniently. What it does mean is part of defeating terrorism is not being terrorfied. And part of that is letting people do their jobs.