Jeff Jarvis and James Lileks are both floating the idea of news organizations creating an Iraqi Reconstruction Beat � an assignment for a reporter or reporters who could track progress made by the Coalition and Iraq toward rebuilding the country.

There�s ample information about the effort already available to anyone who wants it. The CPA issues �weekly progress reports� in any number of areas of essential services, the economy and government that are there for the asking.

(The CPA has them available for download, in Word Document format, directly from its web site.)

For example, as of the May 7 weekly progress report, we find that :

The seven-day average (May 1-7) of peak electricity production was 3,766 MW.

-- Stock levels for all four major fuels (diesel, benzene, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas) are at seven days of supply or better nationwide for the first time since recording began in September 2003.

-- Since May 2003, the CPA has established cell phone service for 389,111 subscribers nationwide.

What does the peak electricity production mean? For ten years � from 1991 to 2001 � Iraq�s electrical generation production was at 3,300 megawatts, according to the first of the weekly progress reports.

So � while Saddam�s and Zarqawi�s thugs have been shooting at Coalition troops and U.S. contractors, killing and mutilating them every chance they get � the Coalition has not only restored Iraq�s power to pre-war levels but it�s now at least ten percent better.

Not only that, but according to the May 7 progress report, the Coalition says it�s still aiming to push the electric production up to 6,000 Megawatts before sovereignty gets turned over.

But now that the juice is on and getting better, what are they able to do with it? Well, here�s another nugget from the weekly progress report:

The State Owned Internet Company currently has over 43,000 dial-up subscribers in Baghdad. There was limited service pre-war and now, approximately 11,000-12,000 new subscribers are added per week.

That�s 11,000 to 12,000 more Iraqis who can log on every week, click on mainstream U.S. media web sites, and read about the quagmire going on around them. (Data for Internet access growth rates during Saddam�s tenure aren�t currently available.)

How are things going with getting a stable government in place? From the May 7 economic progress report, we read:

The Inspector General for the Ministry of Defense was appointed this week. With this appointment, all 26 Ministries have Inspector General.

On May 4, newly appointed Inspectors Generals met at the Baghdad Convention Center to review staffing, training plans, staff pay, ethics and the code of conduct program, and the 2005 Inspector General budget. The Inspectors General are meeting together weekly basis to discuss common issues (particularly budget staff) and develop their individual and collective roles.

(Meeting minutes from any Inspectors General meetings during the Saddam Hussein regime aren�t currently available.)

What about social services? The May 7 Governance Progress Report has this information:

CPA provided a grant to the Kurdistan Women�s Union (KWU) to conduct mobile outreach activities in rural communities of the Arbil Governorate. The areas targeted by this project are isolated, vulnerable societies whose population suffered a great deal of poverty, ignorance, and abuse under the former regime.

Now that these areas are accessible to humanitarian organizations they are in desperate need of support. KWU, with ITI support, will send three mobile teams of four women each to villages to conduct a series of human rights, health care, child-development and democracy workshops over a course of three months.

(Information on human rights outreach programs in Kurdistan during Saddam Hussein�s regime aren�t currently available.)

So is there ample material for news organizations to create an �Iraqi Reconstruction Beat?� One thing is for sure: there would probably be an endless number of City Hall or Planning Board reporters across the country who would line up for that beat change in a Baghdad Minute.