BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Sept. 13, 2004) - The pungent odor of human waste filled the debris-littered halls of the Najaf teaching hospital, a facility ransacked by Moqtada Sadr's Madi Army as they fought throughout the central Iraq city two weeks ago.

The 120-degree heat intensified the smell and offered little reprieve to the teams of Iraqi construction workers wading through rubble intent on returning the hospital to operation.

"The emergency room and the operating room will be operational within the week," said Ricardo Vasquez, a site manager with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as he pointed to a rubble-filled room. "We have to get this place up and running as quick as we can."

The renovation of the war-torn hospital is one of nearly 650 U.S.-led reconstruction projects now underway across the country, and is one of more than 1,800 projects slated for start before year's end.

"These new projects offer hope, and offer huge opportunities for Iraqi people to get a better country, job and feed their families," said "Hess", a 30-year old architectural engineer in North Baghdad. "I think that when they come it will be a very clear message to all Iraqi people and Arab countries that America did what they promised."

At 30, Hess is one of the elders in the country of 2.5 million people. The median age here is 19, a result of decades of fighting and dictatorship, he said.

"It was a huge disaster; therefore, a lot of Iraqi people ran away from this regime, like my sister," he said. "She ran away out of Iraq risking capture at the border and hanging. It was a huge risk, but she had to. There was no future in Iraq.

"After the war, because the mercy of my God sent the Americans to help us, I got a wonderful salary and hope for a better future," he said.

More than $7 billion of the $18.4 billion U.S. reconstruction fund has been obligated to perform the gargantuan task of building hope by rebuilding the nation's infrastructure plagued by decades of poor maintenance.

Electricity generators now pump more electricity into the desert country's power grid than before the war, and more than a thousand schools have been rebuilt.

It's welcomed progress, "Hess" said, but it's often overshadowed by the actions of a minority of Iraq - the weapon-toting militia intent on thwarting progress.

"It's too clear the improvements have been made, but unfortunately what is stopping that improving wheel from going forward is the stupid people outside who just want to attack the American people here," he said. "Unfortunately there are Arab countries in the neighborhood that are feeding the terrorists here with weapons and money to attack the Americans."

Money here was reserved for the elite under the former regime and continues to be a suspected fuel for fighting.

Poverty-stricken families continue to sort through the landfills for food and shelter, but leaders here believe that will change as the reconstruction effort quickens and the demand for labor increases.

"Most of Iraq is very poor outside of Baghdad, and if you pay them good money to attack, they will because they need money to feed their children and families," Hess said. "They are blind-minded; they don't see how they are hurting their country.

"Their only goal is money, not a better Iraq," he said.

More than 110,000 Iraqi laborers and engineers are already on the rolls of reconstruction agencies and contractors. Thousands more are expected to be added as the additional projects come on line in the months ahead.

Reconstruction efforts have already showed signs of boosting the country's economy, adding more than half a million new jobs, industries and factories, according to the Iraq Ministry of Electricity. The ministry reports the boost has not only put money into the hands of many in Iraq, it has fueled the sale of thousands of washing machines and air conditioners, which has rapidly increased the demand for electricity.

"The increase in demand is a good sign of a thriving economy emerging from three decades of isolation," reads a fact sheet published by the ministry.

Like electricity, the demand for water has also increased as more and more Iraqis are able to connect to centralized water distribution systems across the country.

"It is frustrating when you see a water treatment plant being rebuilt, and it provides water every morning when you want it to," "Hess said. "Then that one guy who is out of his mind comes and cuts the line just like that.

"It's frustrating because we can't move forward when this happens," he said.

"Movement forward for Iraq continues as infrastructure projects around the country begin and Iraqis become employed, which will improve security," said Brig. Gen Thomas Bostick, the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division, a predominantly civilian organization charged with reconstructing Iraq.

"More projects are starting every day, and more of Iraq will begin to see a difference as these projects come on line," Bostick said. "Iraqi and multinational firms began 285 new projects during the first week of September and more than a thousand are scheduled to be started in the next 90 days."

(Editor's note: Mitch Frazier serves with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division.)