U.S. President George W. Bush promised on Saturday to step up the pace of spending on reconstruction contracts in Iraq despite violence there. Bush cited what he called "steady progress" in Iraq to counter warnings by his Democratic presidential rival, Sen. John Kerry, that the situation in reality was deteriorating. President Bush said more than $9 billion would be spent on contracts in the next "several months" to rebuild Iraqi schools, refurbish hospitals, repair bridges, upgrade the electrical grid and modernize the communication system. The U.S. president said preparations were also under way to conduct "free national elections no later than January." He said an Iraqi electoral commission had already hired personnel, and U.N. electoral advisers are on the ground. Bush acknowledged there was "persistent violence in parts of Iraq" and that "serious problems remain in several cities." He said interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi had "accomplished a great deal" and that "freedom is winning." Bush also touted efforts to train Iraqi security forces. He said nearly 100,000 "fully trained and equipped" Iraqi soldiers, police officers and other security personnel were already working and that the Iraqi government was on track to build a force of over 200,000 security personnel by the end of 2005.
