Obama sticks to measured approach on Iraq, defying critics

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Barack Obama ran for president in 2008, he built his reputation as an anti-war candidate by disparaging U.S. involvement in Iraq, adamantly insisting: "It's time to end this war."

Now, with Iraq's U.S.-backed government under its most serious threat since President Obama pulled out the last U.S. troops in 2011, he is being forced to consider what had previously seemed unthinkable - resorting to military force there again.