John McCain, May 28, 2008, Reno, Nevada:

Senator Obama has been to Iraq once. A little over two years ago, he went, and he has never seized the opportunity, except in a hearing, to meet with General Petraeus.... Now, I asked Senator Obama to go to Iraq. I asked him to go back... and I said I would go with him, if necessary. I would be glad to go with him.

Last month, Obama announced plans to visit Iraq sometime before the election.

Jill Hazelbaker, a spokeswoman for McCain's campaign, this morning:

Let's drop the pretense that this is a fact-finding trip and call it what it is: the first of its kind campaign rally overseas.

Plus, some whining:

It is unproductive to spend it worrying about the way Obama is covered. That being said, it certainly hasn't escaped us that the three network newscasts will originate from stops on Obama's trip next week.

John McCain, a little bit later, sort of repudiating Hazelbaker's comments:

The fact is that I’m glad he is going to Iraq. I am glad he is going to Afghanistan. It’s long, long overdue if you want to lead this nation.

John McCain, another little bit later, according to the Times:

Later in the day, in Grand Haven, Mich., Mr. McCain elaborated on his and Ms. Hazelbaker’s original remarks. He differentiated the Iraq and Afghanistan parts of the trip from its other legs, saying that Mr. Obama’s activities in those other countries could have “a political flavor, to say the least.”

I'm really lost at this point as to what part of the trip is pandering and what part of the trip is legitimate fact-finding. The logic seems to work like this: If John McCain tells you to go to a country, that makes you slightly better qualified to be commander in chief, except that you should have done it before John McCain told you to go, and at any rate you're not as qualified as John McCain. But if John McCain didn't recommend a trip, it's just a big overseas rally. Ooh, that makes my head hurt.