[North-NV-Greens] Fwd: This Week on NOW

[Paul Etxeberri]

>
>NOW
>Friday, February 11, 2005 on PBS
>(Check local listings at http://www.pbs.org/now/sched.html)
>
>==================================================================
>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.
>
>===================================================================
>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."
>
>===================================================================
>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.
>
>===================================================================
>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.
>
>===================================================================
>Hosted by David Brancaccio, NOW has been called "...one of the last
>bastions of serious journalism on TV" by the Austin-American Statesmen
>and "...public television at its best" by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
>Each week, the series sheds light on a wide range of issues confronting
>the nation and explores American democracy and culture through
>investigative reporting and interviews with major authors, leading
>thinkers, and artists. 
>
>You have received this e-mail because you asked to be informed of
>information on upcoming programs.  To subscribe or unsubscribe from the
>weekly NOW newsletter, visit www.pbs.org/now/newsletter.html.
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Paul Etxeberri

"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow"   ---Chateaubriand