CNN’s Clarissa Ward joined CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from Erbil, Iraq, on Wednesday to discuss the Iran War. At one point Colbert asked about certain videos the White House has put out that include footage from things such as the Call of Duty video game, which led Ward to declare that the administration is playing into the worst stereotypes about America in a region that has “felt dehumanized and humiliated” for decades. Of course, Ward said this while Iran has killed civilians and attacked oil and water infrastructure in many Middle Eastern countries that have not attacked it.
Colbert lamented, “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 a certain level of not being desensitized to it yourself, and that must be harder sometimes, especially when now violence is being so celebrated in odd ways by our own Pentagon press office.”
I would reckon the people of the Middle East are more concerned about Iran bombing them than the White House’s video montages that included Call of Duty clips, but CNN’s Clarissa Ward tells Stephen Colbert, “Obviously as a journalist I’m really not supposed to say this but I feel… pic.twitter.com/G5dMzIU6eM
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) March 12, 2026
Elaborating, Colbert focused in on how, “They recently put out a video where they use clips from Call of Duty to do a triumphal celebration of the destruction of Iran. As someone who has 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 glamour they are trying to put on this violence?”
Ward began by dismissing journalistic objectivity, “I mean, obviously as a journalist I’m really not supposed to say this, but I feel deeply ashamed, and 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.”
She continued, “It matters how people here 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, yeah, it’s just, it’s a lot.”
Whatever one thinks of the videos and their appropriateness, the more pressing matter for the people of the Middle East are the Iranian attacks on their countries. Tellingly, Ward never specified how the U.S. has allegedly dehumanized and humiliated the people of the region for decades. After the friendly fire accident in Kuwait, multiple viral photos and videos came out from grateful locals helping the stranded crewmembers. That would suggest the Middle East can be a complicated place, which should not be breaking news.
Here is a transcript for the March 11-taped show:
CBS The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
3/12/2026
12:16 AM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: 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 a certain level of not being desensitized to it yourself, and that must be harder sometimes, 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 a triumphal celebration of the destruction of Iran. As someone who has 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 glamour they are trying to put on this violence?
CLARISSA WARD: I mean, obviously as a journalist I’m really not supposed to say this, but I feel deeply ashamed, and 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 here 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, yeah, it’s just, it’s a lot.
