NOW examines the Backdoor Draft. (Friday evening, PBS)

[Dover]

This week on NOW:

* Backdoor draft? NOW examines the Pentagon's controversial tactics to
put more troops on the ground in Iraq in THE CALL UP.

* Troop's eye view. Get a close-up look at the efforts in one
beleaguered town south of Baghdad to shift from U.S. troops to newly
trained Iraqi troops in A TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW.

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THE CALL UP

As war rages on, the U.S. Army is desperately short of troops to secure
Iraq. But are the Pentagon's policies to keep up troop levels going too
far? NOW reports on how the Pentagon has been forced to resort to what
critics call a backdoor draft to deal with the severe troop shortage.
The program examines the debate over these hard-line tactics, like
extending tours of duty and reactivating semi-retired soldiers, and
looks at their effects on families. The program features semi-retired
Army Major Rick Howell, who recently was stunned to learn that he's been
called up to serve. "I have not been to a single day of military
training in eight years and they want me to go back and be on active
duty," he says. "That's a disservice to not only this country, but to
those young men and women...who are being thrown into these units."

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A TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW

With talk of troop departure in the wake of the Iraqi election, NOW goes
on the ground with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in an area south
of Baghdad known as the Triangle of Death. Alongside Iraqi National
Guard and police there, these Marines have battled tenacious and
resilient rebels to a standstill. But how well would the Iraqis perform
without America's help? Get a soldier's view of the fighting and an
insider's look at the gap between the hopes and reality of the war.

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NOW continues online at PBS.org (www.pbs.org/now). Log on to the site
for a Q and A with NOW correspondent Bill Gentile about his time with
the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in Iraq; to learn more about the
debate over the shape of a post-9/11 military; to get information on the
Stop Loss order and the role of the National Guard and the Reserves in
Iraq; to use an interactive map and find out if local units in your area
are being deployed; to find resources for veterans and military
families; and more.