?Over There?, Steven Bochco?s 13-part dramatic series based on the Iraq war, lacks the sustained intensity of Second World War epics like ?Saving Private Ryan? or ?Band of Brothers.? It takes a more measured approach that produces mixed ? and sometimes sappy ? results.

Tonight?s third episode on FX focuses on prisoner interrogation, a ripped-from-the-headlines topic familiar to anyone who?s ever heard of Abu Ghraib.

After finding a suspect in the trunk of a car, US soldiers bring him in for interrogation. Mockingly called ?Ahab the Arab? by one soldier, the prisoner is no dummy: The first words he utters are ?Geneva Convention?, which his chief interrogator dismisses with a snarl.

Because the suspect has no rank or serial number, he isn?t an official combatant and isn?t formally protected by the convention. Yet the spirit of Geneva largely prevails.

The prisoner is forced to stand in an uncomfortable position and is thoroughly lashed, though with the tongue instead of a whip. True terror is introduced when he is given a choice: sing or be shipped to the Pakistani security forces, who will get him to talk the old-fashioned way ? with tongs.

Cast regulars Josh Henderson, Luke Macfarlane, Erik Palladino, Keith Robinson, Kirk ?Sticky? Jones, Lizette Carrion, Nicki Aycox and Ohmid Abtahi are convincing enough as soldiers, reminding us that the military is a melting pot where old men send kids to do their bidding. Macfarlane, who plays Frank ?Dim? Dumphy, is particularly effective as a slightly introverted Cornell graduate not afraid to question authority.

Despite fears in conservative quarters that co-directors Bochco and Chris Gerolmo would indulge in anti-war sermonising, those who oppose the war will find little aid and comfort here.

Instead, a viewer is likely to ask what he or she would do in a similar situation, especially after it is revealed that the prisoner knows the location of 20 stolen Stinger missiles. So long as they are in enemy hands, helicopter support for US troops is impossible, meaning increased casualties.

When Sgt. Scream (Palladino) suggests an extra measure of ?latitude? in interrogation methods may be in order, even those of us who don?t support the war may find ourselves marching in lockstep.

Other times we might find ourselves working the clicker. That?s especially true for anyone with an aversion to flashbacks. One moment we?re out in the desert, the next we?re watching a kid walk around an empty house back in the US, toasting pop tarts and crying at the kitchen table as the mood music heats up like aural napalm. We see wounded Bo Rider (Henderson) mentally reliving his life as a football star, then going through morphine withdrawal complete with high-intensity vomiting.

In a similar vein, there?s a visit to a family support group by Sergio Del Rio (Lombardo Boyar), hailed as the first husband to join the outfit. It takes him only a few short moments to begin blubbering away. ?We wives need to stick together,? he is told after the session. With all this goo, that should be no problem.

Luckily, the pace picks up when insurgents attack the interrogation site. Here we get the most graphic episode of the night: a head shot that converts an insurgent?s brains to a fine red mist that ends up on a nearby wall.

All told, this is a fairly quick hour. As we near the end the prisoner is broken, not on the wheel but by the appearance of his sister, now a captive herself. Unless he coughs up the missile info, she?ll be turned over to the Pakistanis, who aren?t known for their kind treatment of female prisoners. Before cracking, he is able to exact a promise that no one will be killed in the missile recovery process.

It appears this fellow wasn?t aware that truth is the first casualty of war. As the credits roll we see an insurgent enter the shed where the missiles are hidden. Suddenly the ground shakes as a jet fighter approaches. The final frame is the targeting video from a smart bomb. Next stop: Paradise.

?Over There? gets sidetracked from time to time, yet it does offer an often compelling and much needed antidote to Pentagon briefings. In this, it has little competition.