OPINION | This article contains the author's opinion.
CNN’s Clarissa Ward is on the ground covering the devastating situation in Kabul, Afghanistan.
During a puzzling segment, Ward claims the Taliban seemed “friendly” despite their chants of “Death to America.”
Ward has received widespread criticism and backlash on social media over the comment.
The Taliban is notoriously known for its long history of being extremely violent and crude — anything but “friendly.”
Ward has described the scene: “As soon as we leave our compound, it’s clear who is now in charge.”
“Taliban fighters have flooded the capital. Smiling and victorious, they took this city of 6 million people in a matter of hours — barely firing a shot. This is a sight I honestly thought I would never see: scores of Taliban fighters, and just behind us, the U.S. embassy compound.”
“Some carry American weapons. They tell us they’re here to maintain law and order.”
A Taliban commander is seen telling her “everything is under control” and “will be fine.”
“What’s your message to America right now?” she asked.
“‘America already spent enough time in Afghanistan,’” he told her. “‘They need to leave,’ he tells us. ‘They already lost lots of lives and lots of money.’”
As Taliban members are holding up weapons and chanting “‘Death to America, Ward says “they seem friendly at the same time.”
“It’s utterly bizarre,” she added.
Now Ward has even more troubling news to report. Two Taliban fights attempted to pistol-whip her producer.
Here’s her explanation via Townhall:
“The most frightening moment for our team came when our producer… was taking some video on his iPhone,” Ward explained, when “two Taliban fighters just came up with their pistols, and they were ready to pistol-whip him and we had to intervene and scream” before another Taliban fighter stopped the attack by explaining the CNN crew were journalists.
Ward continued by explaining the nearly impossible task for those seeking to get to Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport and get out of Afghanistan after watching citizens try to get through or around Taliban checkpoints. “This was mayhem, this was nuts, this was impossible for an ordinary civilian even if they had their paperwork,” she described. “No way they’re running that gauntlet — no way they’re going to be able to navigate that,” she concluded somberly.
Watch the clip:
CNN Monday: "They're just chanting 'Death to America,' but they seem friendly at the same time."
CNN Today: "Our producer…was taking some video on his iPhone. Two Taliban fighters just came up with their pistols and they were ready to pistol whip him." pic.twitter.com/MkyUQZOaXR
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 18, 2021