FAS

CRS: Accounting for POW/MIAs, and More

06.09.06 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

“There has been a long-running controversy about the fate of certain U.S. prisoners of war (POWs) and servicemembers missing in action (MIAs) as a result of various U.S. military operations,” a newly updated Congressional Research Service (CRS) report (pdf) on the subject begins.

“While few people familiar with the issue feel that any Americans are still being held against their will in communist countries associated with the Cold War, more feel that some may have been so held in the past in the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, or North Vietnam,” according to the CRS author.

There is currently one U.S. Army soldier who is listed as a Prisoner of War following his capture by Iraqi insurgents on April 9, 2004.

See “POWs and MIAs: Status and Accounting Issues,” June 1, 2006.

Some other recent CRS reports obtained by Secrecy News that are not readily available in the public domain include the following:

“Federal Emergency Management and Homeland Security Organization: Historical Developments and Legislative Options” (pdf), updated June 1, 2006.

“Military Airlift: C-17 Aircraft Program” (pdf), updated May 30, 2006.

“F/A-22 Raptor” (pdf), updated May 24, 2006.

publications
See all publications
Government Capacity
Blog
Everything You Need to Know (and Ask!) About OPM’s New Schedule Policy/Career Role: Oversight Resource for OPM’s Schedule Policy/Career Rule

This rule gives agencies significantly more authority over certain career policy roles. Whether that authority improves accountability or creates new risks depends almost entirely on how agencies interrupt and apply it. 

02.13.26 | 8 min read
read more
Government Capacity
Policy Memo
Report
Rebuilding Environmental Governance: Understanding the Foundations

Our environmental system was built for 1970s-era pollution control, but today it needs stable, integrated, multi-level governance that can make tradeoffs, share and use evidence, and deliver infrastructure while demonstrating that improved trust and participation are essential to future progress.

02.12.26 | 26 min read
read more
Government Capacity
Policy Memo
Report
Costs Come First in a Reset Climate Agenda

Durable and legitimate climate action requires a government capable of clearly weighting, explaining, and managing cost tradeoffs to the widest away of audiences, which in turn requires strong technocratic competency.

02.12.26 | 41 min read
read more
Environment
Press release
FAS Launches New “Center for Regulatory Ingenuity” to Modernize American Governance, Drive Durable Climate Progress

FAS is launching the Center for Regulatory Ingenuity (CRI) to build a new, transpartisan vision of government that works – that has the capacity to achieve ambitious goals while adeptly responding to people’s basic needs.

02.12.26 | 4 min read
read more