The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was a "pure failure" that has left the country in a worse state than it was in under Saddam Hussein, says Hans Blix, the former UN weapons inspector.

Now, Blix told a Danish newspaper, there are no good options left open to the U.S.

The Swedish diplomat said pulling out of Iraq now would put the country at risk of descending into civil war.

"Iraq is a pure failure," Blix told the newspaper, Politiken.

But staying won't necessarily help the country either, Blix said.

"It doesn't seem that the United States can help to stabilize the situation by staying there," he said.

Blix's comments come at the end of the deadliest month yet this year for the U.S. military in Iraq. October has seen at least 83 U.S. soldiers killed.

Violence has been on the rise across the country in recent months, with sectarian and insurgent violence claiming dozens of Iraqi lives daily.

Blix led the team that scoured Iraq for weapons of mass destruction ahead of the invasion in 2003.

At the time, he urged the U.S. to hold off on the invasion and to allow the team to keep looking for weapons.

The U.S. criticized Blix for his position and went ahead with the invasion. No WMDs have ever been found.

Blix's comments on Wednesday came as the U.S. made some bold new claims, suggesting Iraqi forces should be able to take command of the country's security within the next 12 to 18 months.

The U.S. military commander in Iraq made the comments on Tuesday. However, he said that could mean initially deploying more American troops to the region.

"I very strongly believe that we need to continue to reduce our forces as the Iraqis continue to improve because we need to get out of their way," Gen. George Casey said Tuesday at a rare joint conference with the U.S. Ambassador in Baghdad.

"The Iraqis are getting better, their leaders are feeling more responsible for the security in Iraq, and they want to take the reins.

But Casey said he would not hesitate to ask for more troops if he felt they were necessary to improve the basic necessities for Iraqis living in Baghdad. Some of those troops could come from outside the country.

"Now, do we need more troops to do that? Maybe. And, as I've said all along, if we do, I will ask for the troops I need, both coalition and Iraqis," said Casey.

About 144,000 U.S. forces are currently operating in Iraq.

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters that Iraqi leaders have agreed by the end of the year to develop a timeline of steps to reduce insurgent violence that is compounded by sectarian killing.

"Iraq leaders have agreed to a timeline for making the hard decisions needed to resolve these issues," said Khalilzad, who was an enthusiastic advocate of the Iraq war.

"Iraqi leaders must step up to achieve key political and security milestones on which they've agreed."

Details of the milestones were not spelled out, but Khalilzad mentioned several areas in which progress would be measured, including devising a system to share the country's oil wealth among all religious and ethnic groups.

Casey and Khalilzad reproached Iran and Syria, Iraq's neighbors east and west, for trying to undermine the American effort to stabilize the country, with Casey saying both countries had been "decidedly unhelpful."

The U.S. ambassador also said the United States was in contact with insurgent leaders, to persuade them to lay down their weapons and join the political process.

The joint news conference came as Washington reassesses its strategy in Iraq.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Monday that American government and military officials were working with Iraq to set time frames for when Iraqis can take command of 16 provinces from American troops.

The Iraqis have taken over two southern provinces but have been slow to do the same in others, particularly those around Baghdad and in the volatile regions north and west of the capital city.

As the violence rages in Iraq two weeks before key U.S. mid-term congressional elections, the White House on Monday said that its policy for the war "has never been a stay-the-course strategy."

Iraq's deputy prime minister Barham Saleh urged the international community not "to cut and run" as he visited with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile in Iraq on Tuesday, a U.S. military spokesman said there was no word on the fate of a U.S. Army soldier reported missing in Baghdad on Monday.

With files from The Associated Press