American Political Issues #2 Iraq war veterans’ activism against the war

"Why are the people who just fought in the war coming back to protest it?"  "How hypocritical!" These are some common reactions to Iraq war veterans lead war protests.  The way I see it, when Iraq war veterans protest against the very war they fought in, is a clear case of cognitive dissonance.  Presumably there is not one reason that any soldier joins the army.  Probably, some of them joined years before the Iraq war conflict, maybe even well before the attacks on 9/11.  Possibly, some of the soldiers were committed to serve, whether they agreed with the offensive movements of the United States or not.  Most likely, there are many individuals who joined the service post-9/11, fully supported the actions of the United States, and were willing to fulfill their service overseas. 

For the purposes of discussing the cognitive dissonance experienced by the Iraq War veterans, I am going to assume that many of the soldiers went overseas supporting the war.  Then why are these war veterans now protesting a war that they supported and played a serious role in?  I am arguing that they arrived overseas, and saw the destruction and atrocities occurring.  Their individual compliance and participation in what they probably perceived as immoral acts undoubtedly conflicted with their self-images as moral people.  Thus, in order to resolve this conflict, once these soldiers return from their term of service, they are able to admit their disagreement with the war.  In order to resolve the conflict of their past actions and their philosophical disagreement with their actions, the soldiers protest.  Their present activism resolves their conflict and thus, resolves their cognitive dissonance.  

This is important to both understanding a) the why these soldiers are protesting and b) the reality of the war itself.  The fact that people who have participated first hand are overcoming their impulses, and experiencing cognitive dissonance about their actions suggests that it was a fairly negative experience, which should, ultimately lead us all to question the actions of our nation.