Sun Mar 23, 1:26 PM ET US Marines from the 2nd Battalion 8th regiment enter the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, where allied troops found stubborn resistance in their northbound advance towards the Iraqi capital Baghdad(AFP/Eric Feferberg)
An F/A-18 Hornet pilot Commander Mike Vance from Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-27 'Royal Maces' gives the thumbs up prior to taking off from the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier for a mission over Iraq .
U.S. Marines keep watch over displaced Iraqis, in the port of Umm-Qasr in southern Iraq . 
U.S. Marines take up positions after an air raid alarm brought their convoy to a halt near Al Nassiriya in Iraq (news - web sites), March 23, 2003. Marines battled Iraqi guerrillas for control of the southern city on Sunday, taking 'significant' casualties in a fight to open a route north to Baghdad, U.S. officers said. Reuters Correspondent Sean Maguire, traveling with the Marines First Regiment south of the city, said he could see explosions and huge plumes of smoke over Nassiriya, on the Euphrates river about 225 miles southeast of Baghdad. Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters