WASHINGTON/KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Monday the massacre of 16 villagers by a U.S. soldier raises his determination to get American troops out of Afghanistan, while a U.S. official said the accused staff sergeant previously had suffered traumatic brain injury.

Sunday’s shootings triggered angry calls from Afghans for an immediate American exit. Obama said there should not be a “rush to the exits” for U.S. forces who have been fighting in Afghanistan since 2001 and that the drawdown must be carried out in a responsible way.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s administration is exploring options to halt the bloodshed in Syria but is deeply skeptical of military intervention out of fear it could worsen the humanitarian crisis, according to a White House official.

In a briefing with a small group of reporters on Friday, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, contrasted the situation in Syria with Libya, where a NATO campaign bolstered rebels who eventually toppled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi last year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama invoked his young daughters on Tuesday to hit back at Rush Limbaugh over the conservative talk show host’s incendiary comments about a birth control activist.

In remarks that outraged many women and drew criticism from both Democrats and Republicans, Limbaugh branded Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke a “slut” and “prostitute” for speaking out in support of Obama’s policies on birth control.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama warned on Sunday against “loose talk” of a war with Iran ahead of a crucial meeting where he plans to press Israel’s prime minister to avoid a premature strike on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.

Obama, who will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks at the White House on Monday, pledged his staunch support for the Jewish state and said military action remained an option to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama
attacked White House contender Mitt Romney on Tuesday over his
opposition to the 2009 bailout of the U.S. auto industry,
seizing on a vulnerability for the Republican candidate on a
crucial voting day.

Speaking to auto union workers in Washington on the same day
Romney faces a potentially pivotal primary vote in Michigan,
home to General Motors and Chrysler, Obama trumpeted his
rescue of the two major auto companies and accused Romney of
wanting to abandon American workers.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In a veiled jab at Republican White House contender Rick Santorum, President Barack Obama said on Monday that a college education was not a luxury and pledged to do all he could to rein in skyrocketing tuition.

“We can’t allow higher education to be a luxury in this country,” Obama said at a White House meeting with Republican and Democratic state governors. “It’s an economic imperative that every family in America has to be able to afford. And frankly, I don’t think any of this should be a partisan issue.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will project lower deficits and request billions of dollars for infrastructure and jobs in his 2013 budget, laying out a plan he will sell to voters in November, despite Republicans criticism of rising federal debts.

Obama’s budget proposal, which he will submit to Congress on Monday, will project a $901 billion deficit for fiscal 2013, a sharp drop from the $1.33 trillion funding gap that is predicted for this year, a senior administration official said on Friday.

By Stephanie Simon and Caren Bohan

(Reuters) – President Barack Obama, in an abrupt policy shift aimed at quelling an election-year firestorm, announced on Friday that religious employers would not be required to offer free birth control to workers and the onus would instead fall on insurers.

But Catholic Church leaders and Obama’s Republican opponents – who had railed against the rule requiring coverage for contraceptives as a violation of religious freedom – signaled that divisions remain and the hot-button issue could stay alive in the 2012 presidential race.

Feb 10 (Reuters) – Seeking to quell a political
firestorm, the White House will announce a plan to accommodate
religious organizations on its rule for health insurance
coverage of contraceptives, sources familiar with the matter
said on Friday.

The Obama administration has faced an election-year backlash
from Catholic Church leaders, Republicans and others who have
said the regulation is an attack on religious freedom. The new
proposal is unlikely to satisfy all the concerns of church
leaders, the sources told Reuters.

By Stephanie Simon and Caren Bohan

(Reuters) – The White House will announce a move to accommodate religious organizations on its rule for health insurance coverage of contraceptives, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The Obama administration is seeking to quell a firestorm from Catholic Church leaders, Republicans and others who have said the regulation is an attack on religious freedom. The proposal is unlikely to satisfy church leaders, the sources said.