Name: "A Staggering Lack Of Humility" - Clarissa Ward On The Pentagon’s Glib Glorification Of War Violence
Uploaded: 2026-03-16T16:57:16.000Z
Duration: 5 min 3 s
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We're back with CNN's Clarissa Ward from Erbil, Iraq.

There was some talk about the Kurds taking up arms and joining this fight to help overthrow the Iranian regime.

I'm really glad you asked, because I know.

I think sometimes people are too shy to ask because they're like, I know.

I should really know more about the Kurds.

The Kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world without a state.

They are spread out across a number of countries, but primarily Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria.

And I guess the first thing to say is that the Kurds, unsurprisingly, therefore, are not a monolith.

And there are many different Kurdish political and fighting factions spread throughout the region.

And at one stage, the US Was actively considering, and

indeed, the CIA had already begun supporting some of the Iranian Kurdish opposition groups that are based here in Iraqi Kurdistan, which then was really creating a huge amount of tension here in Iraqi Kurdistan because the Iranians responded by saying, we're going to flatten the whole of Iraqi Kurdistan if a single fighter crosses that border.

And then President Trump changed his mind again.

And for now, that seems to have kind of died away as an option for the moment.

I imagine that as a war correspondent for many years, part of the job is to convey to those of us who aren't there the tragedy and the horror that is war.

And that requires, for a certain level, not being desensitized to it yourself.

And that must be harder at some times, especially when now violence is being so celebrated in odd ways by our own Pentagon press office, they recently put out a video where they use clips from Call of Duty to do sort of a triumphal celebration of the destruction of Iran.

As someone who's been to so many of these conflicts and seen the reality for humans on the ground, what's your reaction to that sort of the glitz and the glamour they're trying to put on this violence?

I mean, obviously, as a journalist, I'm probably not supposed to say this, but

I think it belies a staggering lack of humility.

And frankly, it doesn't really matter so much what I think or feel about it.

It matters how people hear feel about it.

It matters how people in Iran feel about it.

And I think it just plays into the worst stereotypes about America and how America wields its power and what America cares about.

And for so many in this region who have just felt dehumanized and humiliated for decades now.

It's hard to keep your attention on so many conflicts at once.

You spoke to Zelensky while you were there.

I learned that there's not just a bit of bitterness, but

like genuine hurt and confusion as to why the United States went to being the biggest champion and supporter of Ukraine, to not seemingly being terribly engaged on this issue.

And I learned that people have a breaking point.

You know, they just lived through a winter where it was unbelievably freezing, sub zero temperatures every day, Russians bombing the energy infrastructure every day, blackouts, no heat.

I spent an afternoon going with a young single mother who has to walk her 3 year old daughter up and down 10 flights of stairs every day because there's no power and the elevator doesn't work.

And I spoke to a lot of people who said, you know, I don't really ever want to hear the word resilient again.

I know it's early in the morning over there and obviously, please stay safe.

And we look forward to all your coverage on CNN where you can watch Clarissa's coverage from Iraq.