Times says McCain's op-ed not ready as is

WASHINGTON - The New York Times defended its decision not to publish an op-ed article as submitted by Republican John McCain about the Iraq war on grounds that it customarily reviews such pieces with the author.

McCain's campaign sent the newspaper the op-ed Friday. In it, the Arizona senator describes how the buildup of U.S. forces in Iraq has helped curb violence. He also chides Democrat Barack Obama for outlining his plan for Iraq before his current meetings with commanders and Iraqi leaders on the ground.

In an e-mail Friday to the campaign, David Shipley, a Times op-ed editor, said he could not accept the piece in its current form but would look at another version. In the e-mail, released by the McCain campaign, Shipley wrote that McCain's article would "have to lay out a clear plan for achieving victory - with troop levels, timetables and measures for compelling the Iraqis to cooperate. And it would need to describe the senator's Afghanistan strategy, spelling out how it meshes with his Iraq plan."

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said yesterday of the request: "John McCain believes that victory in Iraq must be based on conditions on the ground, not arbitrary timetables. Unlike Barack Obama, that position will not change based on politics or the demands of the New York Times."

Bounds said the campaign would not submit a revised op-ed.

In a written statement yesterday, the Times explained its decision: "It is standard procedure on our op-ed page, and that of other newspapers, to go back and forth with an author on his or her submission. We look forward to publishing Sen. McCain's views in our paper just as we have in the past."

The Times endorsed McCain in the Republican primaries, but he has had a testy relationship with the paper.

In February, McCain vigorously denied and denounced a Times report that suggested he had had an improper relationship with a female lobbyist. His campaign referred to the article as a "smear campaign" and "gutter politics."

The Times published an op-ed by Obama on July 14. The Illinois senator wrote that as president he would send at least two more combat brigades to Afghanistan as part of his plan to pull combat troops out of Iraq and focus on al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

The Times said it has published at least seven op-ed pieces by McCain since 1996. "We take his views very seriously," the statement said.