If your first reaction to the Santayana quote is to think of Vietnam, then I don't trust you. Why? Because only anti-American socialists think that way.
Judging from post 13 he is no leftist by his own country's standards. BUT he is definitely a leftist by our standards. It is quite common for non-US Western "centre-right" people - they accept a large part of conventional narratives that inside the US were confined to the US LEft. A true leftie from these countries won't come here thinking we are stupid intellectuals.
Not that I'm sympathetic to his positions though - I think he is misguided and spending a few months on FR will probably point him to the truth. (Bay, do I sound cultic here? ;-))