40,000 US soldiers did not resign after they fought in Iraq and Afghanistan - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 14, 2021
A video accompanied by a post is being widely shared on social media claiming that 40,000 US soldiers resigned and threw away their medals after they fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video that shows 40,000 US soldiers resigning and throwing away their medals after they fought in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Fact: The visuals are from an anti-NATO rally in 2012 in Chicago where nearly 50 US veterans threw away their medals. The veterans were protesting the US’ war in Afghanistan and Iraq. There are no recent news reports of such huge number of soldiers (40,000) resigning after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When reverse image search is done on the screenshots of the video, a YouTube video with similar visuals was found. The YouTube video was published on 21 May 2012 by ‘Democracy Now’ with the title, “’No NATO, No War”: US Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan return war medals at NATO summit.” According to this video news report, nearly 50 veterans threw their war medals in the direction of the NATO summit, which was being held in Chicago then.
An anti-NATO rally was held in May 2012 in Chicago, where nearly 50 US military veterans threw their medals symbolising their rejection of US’ war in Iraq and Afghanistan. US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have come to an end recently. This war on terror, which was fought for 20 years had left a huge toll on the US soldiers who returned where every soldier had a different story. However, there are no recent news reports of such a huge number of soldiers (40,000) resigning after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
To sum it up, 40,000 US soldiers did not resign and threw away their medals after they fought in Afghanistan and Iraq.