"Right now we have a volunteer system, which means an army entirely paid for, and professionals," he said, but noted: "As in other countries, Afghanistan had a strong tradition of conscript army."
I don't like it.
I know that the government needs numbers, but I'd rather have a decent but smaller central government force bolstered by less capable provincial and local defense forces to get the numbers up. The local boys wouldn't be as well trained and restrained in behavior toward civilians as regulars, but at least they'd be local lads who might be less likely to alienate their neighbors.
If the Afghan government goes to conscription, the central government conscript forces deployed in the provinces will seem like foreigners to the local civilians and will lack the training to behave themselves well enough to avoid alienating the locals.
