TV Alert: Now on Backdoor Draft

NOW investigates the Pentagon's controversial tactics to get more troops to Iraq.

As war rages on, the U.S. Army is desperately short of troops to fight in Iraq. But are the Pentagon's policies to keep up troop levels going too far? On Friday, February 11, 2005 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings http://www.pbs.org/now/sched.html.), NOW examines how the Pentagon has been forced to resort to what critics call a backdoor draft to deal with the severe troop shortage. The report looks at the debate over these hard-line tactics, including extending tours of duty and reactivating semi-retired soldiers, evaluates their effects on families and asks if America is willing to make the sacrifices needed to be the world's policeman. As part of the broadcast, NOW looks at the efforts in one beleaguered town south of Baghdad to shift from U.S. troops to newly trained Iraqi troops.