Iraq War

Operation Iraqi Freedom

Captured by an insurgency, not unlike the Viet Cong, service members captured in Iraq and Afghanistan were not designated Prisoner of War. Instead they are given the ambiguous status of Missing/Captured.

Neither International Law or the Geneva Conventions makes any mention of individuals carried by their countries as Missing/Captured or MIA-C. We realize that our enemies violate the rules of international law and the Geneva Conventions regarding the care and treatment of captured American Service Personnel. Terminology will not change that. Terminology does change world perception regarding the value we place on our captured personnel.

Doesn’t it downgrade the worth of a battered American service member, displayed on television worldwide, for the Department of Defense to designate him or her Missing/Captured rather than Prisoner of War?

The status Missing/Captured fails to provide this nations service members the moral dignity and international recognition provided by the Prisoner of War status.

Who wants to tell these servicemen they are not a Prisoner of War?



View the Documents and decide.