FARGO, N.D. -- Barack Obama struggled Thursday to explain his plan to end the war in Iraq, calling a rare do-over news conference to insist that he was not softening his campaign pledge to withdraw all combat troops within 16 months of becoming president.

"That position has not changed. I have not equivocated on that position. I have not searched for maneuvering room with respect to that position," he said. – LAT