In the second of four speeches before Iraq's elections, scheduled for a week from today, to choose a permanent government, [Bush] said the United States was helping Iraq to build a free-market economy and rebuild its roads, electrical systems, schools and other public buildings.

Bush presented the efforts to rebuild Iraq politically and economically as the next important steps, along with the campaign to provide security. U.S. deaths in Iraq have passed 2,100. Attacks are expected to increase before the elections.

Bush said the United States had focused on small, local projects that would produce "noticeable improvements and offer an alternative to the destructive vision of the terrorists." Specifically, he said that in 2 1/2 years, the United States had helped Iraq make about 3,000 school renovations, "train more than 30,000 teachers, distribute more than 8 million textbooks, rebuild irrigation infrastructure to help more than 400,000 rural Iraqis and improve drinking water for more than 3 million people."