var items = new Array (new ImageMetaData('A US soldier is on guard at a local council building as Major General Rick Lynch, commander of the Third Infantry Division meets the local leaders in Iskandariyah, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 15, 2008. (AP photo/Dusan Vranic)','http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080317/080317-iraq-hmed-830a.jpg','11:37 a.m. ET, 3/17/08','Dusan Vranic / AP','AP',23674804));