Washington, D.C. ? Two new government reports, one by the Pentagon, pointed Monday to encouraging security improvements in Iraq but were decidedly pessimistic about prospects for political and economic progress and warned that costly military gains will remain fragile.

One report, by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, concluded that many political reconciliation efforts have stalled, that Iraq’s security forces remain largely unable to operate without U.S. assistance and that its central government has not fulfilled commitments to spend its own money on reconstruction efforts. As a result, a new U.S. strategy for attaining military, political and economic goals is needed, the GAO said.

The Pentagon, while not agreeing on the need for a new strategy, acknowledged problems throughout Iraq. The quarterly report on progress also cited continued dissatisfaction among Iraqis over essential services such as water, electricity, sanitation and health care, and said government officials in Baghdad “lack the ability” to advance needed rebuilding projects.

Both reports cite dramatic improvements in security, and top officials say the number of attacks is continuing to drop.

On Monday, Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin III, the No. 2 U.S. military commander in Iraq, said that the average number of weekly attacks had fallen from 1,200 in June 2007 to 200 currently.