Missing In Action

Missing In Action (abbreviated MIA), is a term (dating from 1946) referring to a member of the armed services who is reported missing following a combat mission and whose status as to injury, capture, or death is unknown. The missing combatant must not have been otherwise accounted for as either killed in action (KIA) or a prisoner of war (POW).

MIA in Iraq

During the Persian Gulf War of 1991, an American pilot named Michael Speicher was initially reported as KIA after his aircraft crashed. Investigators later found his flight suit at the crash site and thought he might have ejected before the crash. His status was changed to MIA. His fate remains unknown.

Related Topics:
Persian Gulf War - 1991

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A small number of coalition soldiers were missing in action in Iraq. In one prominent case an American GI of Lebanese background who went missing, claimed to have been captured, but it is generally believed he was merely AWOL. US Army Spc. Keith M. Maupin was captured by insurgents in April 2004 and is currently listed as MIA.

Related Topics:
AWOL - April - 2004

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The Americans, on the other hand, have been holding ghost detainees -- prisoners whose capture and incarceration was never acknowledged. General Antonio Taguba, in his report on the American's prisons in Iraq, called this practice a violation of US Army regulations and of international law.

Related Topics:
Ghost detainee - Antonio Taguba

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When Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was asked about Triple-X, the first ghost detainee to be publicly acknowledged, he gave a speculation as to why the US might violate the Geneva Conventions by holding prisoners in secret. He speculated that someone might want to do this as a temporary measure, because it might make the prisoner's interrogation more effective. He did not say that the technique was being employed for the same reasons the Argentines employed it -- to spread terror. Notably, he did not acknowledge that he explicitly approved this technique.

Related Topics:
Donald Rumsfeld - Triple-X - Geneva Conventions

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