Former US secretary of state James Baker was visibly shocked when he last visited Iraq, and said the country was in a "helluva mess", the BBC reported. Baker is leading a review of the situation in Iraq by a bipartisan US committee of experts, and is expected to recommend a change in US strategy for rebuilding Iraq.
Citing a unnamed close friend and ally of Baker's, himself a top politician, the BBC said that Baker added that "there simply weren't any easy solutions".
Baker was secretary of state to US President George W. Bush's father, president George H. W. Bush.
Citing unnamed members of Baker's committee, The Los Angeles Times on Monday said that two options under consideration would represent reversals of US policy: withdrawing American troops in phases, and bringing neighboring Iran and Syria into a joint effort to stop the fighting.
The BBC also reported that a third possibility was under consideration -- to concentrate on getting stability in Iraq, and stop aiming to establish a democracy there.
The 10-member commission has agreed that change must be made, the Times report said.
"It's not going to be 'stay the course,'" the paper quoted one participant as saying. "The bottom line is, (current policy) isn't working. There's got to be another way."
