High-level White House advisers are said to be ready to call for a major change in Washington's policy on Iraq.

Members of the panel, which is led by former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, told the LA Times the shift could include large troop withdrawals.

A senior U.S. official reaffirmed Washington's support for Iraq's leaders but said they must increasingly assume responsibility for security.

The Iraq situation is a key issue in November's U.S. mid-term elections.

"There's got to be another way," is how one member of the Iraq panel summed up their views on the situation in Iraq and the failure of current U.S. policy, according to the LA Times.

Invitation to help

Baker's commission, which is due to report in the next few months, is set to recommend significant change, and will advise against "staying the course".

The bipartisan task force, which was asked by the U.S. Congress to examine the effectiveness of American policy in Iraq, has reportedly been looking at two options, both of which would amount to a reversal of the Bush administration's stance.

One is the phased withdrawal of U.S. troops, the other is to invite Syria and Iran to come into Iraq to help stop the fighting.

Baker, who was secretary of state under President George Bush, the current president's father, has so far stressed that the panel has not come to a definitive conclusion.

But he has indicated the direction of the panel's thinking in recent television interviews.

"Our commission believes that there are alternatives between the stated alternatives, the ones that are out there in the political debate of 'stay the course' and 'cut and run,'" he told ABC News recently.