60                                     U.S. MARINES IN THE PERSIAN GULF, 1990-1991


now with the Republican Guard.     So that number is very, very high, and we've
almost completely destroyed the offensive capability of the Iraqi forces in the
Kuwaiti theater of operations. The armored vehicle count is also very, very
high, and of course, you can see we're doing~great damage to the artillery. The
battle is still going on, and I suspect that these numbers will mount rather
considerably. (Chart 3)
   I wish I could give you a better number on this, to be very honest with you.
This is just a wild guess.  It's an estimate that was sent to us by the field today
at noontime, but the prisoners out there are so heavy and so extensive, and
obviously, we're not in the business of going around and counting noses at this
time to determine precisely what the exact number is.   But we're very, very
confident that we have well over 50,000 prisoners, of war at this time, and that
number is mounting on a continuing basis.
   I would remind you that the war is continuing to go on.  Even as we speak
right now there is fighting going on out there.   Even as we speak right now
there are incredible acts of bravery going on.  This afternoon we had an F-16
pilot shot down.  We had contact with him, he had a broken leg on the ground.
Two helicopters from the 101st, they didn't have to do it, but they went in to
try and pull that pilot out.  One of them was shot down, and we're still in the
process of working through that. But that's the kind of thing that's going on out
on the battlefield right now.   It is not a Nintendo game--it is a tough battle-


           ENEMY              PRISONERS            OF   WAR


           17     JAN       -  23  FEB              2,720


           24     FEB       -  27  FEB             48~,OOO+


                    TOTAL                          50,000+

                                                                  CHART 3