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The US army has moved to recall nearly 6,000 former soldiers to active service to help maintain its force levels in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It has played down the move but this is the first sizeable call-up of the kind since the 1991 Gulf War and critics say it amounts to backdoor conscription.
The US has relied on volunteer armed forces since ending the draft three decades ago during the Vietnam War.
It has a pool of 111,000 ex-soldiers in its Individual Ready Reserve.
The BBC's Pentagon correspondent, Nick Childs, reports that the recall is a further sign of the strain on the army and is likely to provoke controversy.
BBC Read More
It has played down the move but this is the first sizeable call-up of the kind since the 1991 Gulf War and critics say it amounts to backdoor conscription.
The US has relied on volunteer armed forces since ending the draft three decades ago during the Vietnam War.
It has a pool of 111,000 ex-soldiers in its Individual Ready Reserve.
The BBC's Pentagon correspondent, Nick Childs, reports that the recall is a further sign of the strain on the army and is likely to provoke controversy.
BBC Read More
