Forces push to 50 miles from Baghdad

The US Army’s 3rd Infantry Division dashed north today toward the Shiite holy city of Karbala, only 50 miles south of Baghdad, but was stalled by a sandstorm that blew out of the desert in the afternoon.

Allied planes were due to fly more than 1,000 sorties today – 800 of them in the Baghdad area where elite Republican Guards were to be targeted.