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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 or a prisoner of war.
MIA in Iraq
During the Persian Gulf War of 1991, an American pilot named Scott Speicher was reported as MIA after his F/A-18 was shot down in northern Iraq. In 1997, a Defense Department document leaked to the New York Times showed that the Pentagon had not been forthcoming with information previously requested by U.S. Senator Rod Grams. Senator Grams publicly accused the Pentagon of misleading him, and joined with Senator Bob Smith in calling for an investigation by the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. That investigation is ongoing. Much intelligence regarding Speicher's fate remains classified. In the lead up to the Second Persian Gulf War Speicher's status was changed from Missing in Action to Missing-Captured, a move that suggested he was alive and imprisoned in Iraq.
A small number of coalition soldiers went missing in action in Iraq following the 2003 invasion. In one prominent case, an American soldier of Lebanese background, Wassef Ali Hassoun, went missing and claimed to have been captured. He later turned up in Lebanon, and was flown home to the U.S. It was soon discovered Hassoun made the kidnapping story up, and Hassoun is currently a fugitive.
US Army Sgt. Keith Maupin from Batavia, Ohio, was captured by insurgents in April 2004. He was allegedly executed in June 2004. A video showing Maupin's alleged execution was broadcast on Al Jazeera but the U.S has not confirmed Maupin is dead. He is still listed as MIA.
Colloquial usage
MIA is sometimes used to describe difficulty finding something. "The TV remote is MIA."
External links
- A look at John McCain on the POW/MIA Issue
- Ron Arad - Reward- A site that offers a $10,000,000 reward for any proven information leading to the Israeli navigator Ron Arad who is missing in action in Lebanon.
- Current status of MIA's from the Vietnam War
- Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding MIAs
- Report of the State Senate Committee on POW/MIA Affairs at the Library of Congress
"Missing In Action"