First of all, religion is never a reason for war, it's something that's put out as an excuse for war. Wars are made for land, money, and sovereignty. And mostly, for land and money. Wars purportedly about religion: actually about land and money.
As for life after death as a comfort inducing folks to become soldiers more easily, I think that's ridiculous. The idea demeans the legitimate bravery of good soldiers, and it projects absurd priorities on religious believers.
I believe in life after death, and I can tell you right now it doesn't make me much readier to risk my life here, let alone to sign up to fight wars.
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Dull sublunary lovers love,
Whose soul is sense, cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove
That thing which elemented it.
(From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne)
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