That particular point about whether draftees who didn't dodge/go to jail were good or bad. It isn't something I know enough about to have a strong opinion about beyond basic abstract notions that I imagine most leftists hold (not my country's history). And regardless, you would need to account for the political position and knowledge about what they were heading into (and for what reasons) of the people being drafted. As you say, a lot did dodge the draft, so it's not as if it was a fringe position. I should stop talking about things I don't know much about. Anyway.

I don't think it was so much about that point, just all the other shit he said. One commenter said how the soldiers had the option to desert, just like the soldiers in Nazi Germany had the option to desert or at least choose not to do the things they did even if it was at the cost of their own personal harm. He then replied about how that choice was "easier said than done", which isn't necessarily false for the average non-leftist put in that situation, but he said it in such a way as if the lives of the Vietnamese weren't worth the bad conditions you'd be put in as an American soldier for deserting or refusing orders. And besides, as another person put it, as a vet you'd probably be experiencing shitty conditions anyway so in the end the choice really was kinda moot, you'd be virtually destitute whether you murdered Vietnamese people or not.

And then, as I said, another commenter said he'd rather sit in jail for years rather than participate in the Mai Lai Massacre, and he replied with the "press X to doubt" image. I would hope any leftist would actually be willing to face even dire personal consequences rather than take part in the wholesale slaughter of your fellow human beings.

and he also implied he didn't like Parenti but that's less serious I guess