Darius Shahtahmasebi

Darius Shahtahmasebi is a New Zealand-based legal and political analyst who focuses on US foreign policy in the Middle East, Asia and Pacific region. He is fully qualified as a lawyer in two international jurisdictions.

Seymour Hersh: Trump Ignored Intelligence On Syrian Chemical Attack, Bombed Anyway

According to Hersh, Trump “could not be swayed” by 48 hours worth of intense briefings and decision-making following the initial reports of the alleged chemical weapons attack.

Darius Shahtahmasebi
By Darius Shahtahmasebi
Photograph of men in Khan Sheikdoun, Syria, allegedly inside a crater where a sarin-gas bomb landed on April 4, 2017.

Never one to accept the U.S. government’s official explanation of events without question, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh has investigated Donald Trump’s decision to strike the al-Shayat Airbase in Syria in April of this year, which the president launched amid widespread allegations that the Syrian government committed a chemical

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UN: US-Coalition Forces Killed 300 Civilians Since Last Week

The U.N. war crimes investigators found that since the acceleration of airstrikes in the Syrian city of Raqqa commenced last week, 300 civilians have already died.

Darius Shahtahmasebi
By Darius Shahtahmasebi
A mosque destroyed by bombardment by the U.S.-led coalition in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa. (Aamaq News Agency via AP)

According to a U.N. Commission of Inquiry tasked with investigating violations of international war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria, the intensification of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition has led to a “staggering loss of civilian life,” the Guardian reports. The U.N. war crimes investigators found that since the acceleration of

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Christian Militias Slaughter At Least 30 Civilians In Central African Republic

Civilians are trying to escape ongoing attacks committed by Christian militias that killed at least 30 civilians over the weekend, according to U.N. officials.

Darius Shahtahmasebi
By Darius Shahtahmasebi
Anti-Balaka Christian militiamen stand in the Combatant district of Bangui, Central African Republic, Tuesday Feb. 4, 2014.

Hundreds of civilians are seeking refuge inside a mosque in the Central African Republic (CAR)’s border town of Bangassou, Reuters reports. What may be surprising to the American public is that these civilians are trying to escape ongoing attacks committed by Christian militias that killed at least 30 civilians over the weekend, according to

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Yet Another Coup Brews Within The Trump Administration

Things have not gone smoothly for Trump’s new National Security Advisor HR McMaster, who was keen on shaking up Trump’s inner circle.

Darius Shahtahmasebi
By Darius Shahtahmasebi
President Donald Trump's White House Senior Adviser Steve Bannon, and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, attend a news conference at the White House, April 12, 2017. (AP/Andrew Harnik)

Following Michael Flynn’s forced resignation as Donald Trump’s national security advisor, it seemed as though neoconservatives had completely infiltrated the Trump administration. Flynn’s replacement is a staunch anti-Russian imperialist, General HR McMaster. In his new post, McMaster went to work immediately and began to shake up Trump’s

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Condoleezza Rice: Mid-East Wars Not About Bringing Democracy

Her statements run in contradiction to official “Operation Iraqi Freedom” White House statements that the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 in order to promote democracy,

Darius Shahtahmasebi
By Darius Shahtahmasebi
Code Pink member Desiree Anita Ali-Fairooz, pictured here confronting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over the Iraq war, has been convicted of being disruptive at US Attorney General Jeff Sessions' confirmation hearing. (AP/Charles Dharapak)

Last week, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made some surprising admissions about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, claiming U.S.-led interventions in the Middle East were not about spreading democracy but were instead about addressing security issues. During an interview at the Brooking Institute last Thursday, Rice stated the

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Mental Gymnastics: How The Pentagon Misreports Casualty Numbers

In its most recent published numbers, the Pentagon claims to have killed over 70,000 militants since June 2014 while only killing a mere 229 civilians. That’s an alleged hit rate of over 99 percent.

Darius Shahtahmasebi
By Darius Shahtahmasebi
An employee of Doctors Without Borders, MSF, walks inside the charred remains of the organization's hospital after it was hit by a U.S. airstrike in Kunduz, Afghanistan. (AP/Najim Rahim)

June 2014, around the time ISIS was making headlines across the world, the Wall Street Journal reported that the terror group had 4,000 fighters in Iraq. In September 2014, the CIA released an estimate claiming ISIS had between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters combined in both Iraq and Syria, including 15,000 who were foreign fighters. Almost half

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Tulsi Gabbard: To Solve The Refugee Crisis, Stop Funding Terrorism

“We raise our voices to call on our nation’s leaders to end the counterproductive regime change war in Syria that has caused great human suffering, refugees, loss of life, and devastation.”

Darius Shahtahmasebi
By Darius Shahtahmasebi
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-HI., nominates Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT., for President of the United States during the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Tuesday, July 26, 2016. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

(REPORT) --- Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the politician who previously accused the U.S. of arming ISIS, is still calling on the U.S. government to stop its disastrous regime change policies in the Middle East. According to a press release made public on Tuesday, Gabbard has again called for the U.S. to stop aiding terrorists like

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