McCain Aide Says New York Times Rejection of Iraq Essay Unfair

John McCain was unfairly treated by the New York Times, which rejected an opinion piece the Republican presidential candidate wrote on Iraq after publishing one by Democratic rival Barack Obama, a top McCain adviser said.

``I'm sure they didn't tell Obama what he had to write,'' McCain aide Mark Salter said last night in Manchester, New Hampshire, where the Arizona senator will appear at a fundraiser today. ``Is it fair? No. But we don't expect fairness from them.''

The Times decided against publishing McCain's essay because it needed the candidate to revise the article to say specifically what he planned to do in Iraq, the newspaper said on its Web site, quoting David Shipley, editor of the op-ed page. Andrew Rosenthal, editor of the newspaper's editorial and op-ed pages, said the decision to ask for changes was ``standard procedure.''

``We look forward to publishing Senator McCain's views in our paper just as we have in the past,'' Rosenthal said in a statement on the Web site. ``We have published at least seven Op- Ed pieces by Senator McCain since 1996.''

The spat comes as Obama, 46, is on a weeklong overseas tour, including stops over the weekend in Afghanistan and Iraq, to burnish his foreign policy credentials. McCain and Obama have skirmished over Iraq policy, with McCain saying President George W. Bush's troop increase has helped quell violence and Obama calling for a timetable for bringing U.S. troops home.

In his July 14 essay in the New York Times, Obama said he would shift the focus of U.S. military operations from Iraq and send as many as 10,000 more U.S. troops to fight in Afghanistan.

`Is What It Is'

Earlier yesterday, when asked whether he felt Obama was getting unfair coverage because of his overseas trip this week, McCain said he would campaign as usual. ``It is what it is,'' McCain said.

Over the years, McCain, 71, and the New York Times have had a high-profile relationship.

When McCain was shot down in 1967 by the North Vietnamese, the Times put the story of his capture on its front page. At the time, McCain's father was commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific. The newspaper also put on its front page news of McCain's release as a prisoner of war five-and-a-half years later.

Earlier this year, the Times suggested, again in a front-page story, that McCain had had a romantic relationship with a telecommunications lobbyist about the time he considered running for president in 2000. McCain flatly denied that charge.

The Times endorsed McCain in the Republican primary.