MORE PROGRESS.

Bremer told the House committee that while security remains a problem throughout the country, electricity and water have been restored to many regions, in some cases to levels exceeding their pre-war levels.

"Things are much better here than they were two months ago," Bremer said. "Our focus now is on the economy and the rather important challenge of creating jobs."

Bremer said he is pursuing a two-stage approach to job creation in Iraq.

The first step is to pump money into the Iraqi economy by hiring Iraqi day laborers and military personnel to help with construction projects, an effort for which he established a $100 million fund Tuesday. The money is drawn from the Iraqi central bank and assets seized by the United States and its allies.

The second phase is helping Iraqis design an entrepreneurial private sector, which in turn will create jobs.

Given the condition of the economy, the hobbled oil industry and the country's socialist leanings, however, phase two is "going to take longer," he said.

Bremer said American occupation forces would begin training a new Iraqi military to take over some security duties and give jobs to defeated enemies.

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