Dean's draft deferment stirs debate
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The former Vermont governor was excused from the draft in 1970 when X-rays showed he had a bad back, although Dean said in an interview that he "probably" could have served, The New York Times reported yesterday.
Two other candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination -- John Kerry, D-Mass., and retired Gen. Wesley Clark -- fought and were wounded and decorated for service in Vietnam.
The two declined to criticize Dean for his draft deferment, which was approved by the Selective Service. But a Clark spokesman said Clark's years of military service and term as supreme allied commander of NATO would make him a much stronger opponent for Bush. "That's all relevant to our ability to take on and beat George Bush," said Matt Bennett, Clark's communications director.
A Kerry supporter, former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, said Dean "weaseled out of going to Vietnam on a medical deferment for a bad back and wound up on the ski slopes of Aspen."
Dean said he suffered from an "unfused vertebrae" in his back that was diagnosed during high school. The injury, he said, "didn't keep me from leading a normal life, but it did prevent me from serving in the Army."
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