In the Facebook post published on February 18 Sherwani (also spelled Shirwani) wrote: "robert you should change your last name LIAR. all you know and lie and lie.Shame,shame on you Robert liar". The post is still up as of writing.
Dasko Shirwani is listed as the Director of Outreach and Community Affairs at the KRG Representation Office in Washington, D.C. He is believed to play a key role in the KRG’s attempts to buy influence among Assyrian-American organizations and individuals as part of the KRG’s divide-and-rule strategy. Sherwani, who holds dual American and Iraqi citizenship and resides in the U.S., accompanied Sam Darmo on his KRG-facilitated trip to northern Iraq in 2025.
According to an email by Robert DeKelaita sent to different individuals and obtained by the Post, Sherwani’s attempted intimidation is related to an article that appeared on Nineveh News two days earlier. The article discusses the recent visit of Rebar Ahmed, Minister of Interior of the Kurdish-led region of northern Iraq, to the U.S. and his meeting with Assyrian organizations in Detroit. "If the KRG seeks credibility as a model of pluralism in Iraq, it must move beyond symbolic outreach and address five core areas of concern", the article argues, detailing Kurdish land grabs of Assyrian lands and other issues Assyrians are facing under KRG rule.
Nineveh News describes itself as a collaborative platform sustained by writers from Chicago and across the Assyrian diaspora.
In the email obtained by the Post, DeKelaita writes: "The article in question by one of our writers was measured, evidence-based, and unapologetically firm. It criticized the KRG’s policies and their insufficiency in safeguarding the continued existence of our people in our ancestral lands. It was not vulgar. It was not reckless. It was principled. I stand by it without hesitation."
He went on to write that the message from Sherwani should not be seen as a private quarrel between two individuals but rather a "national question of whether our people may articulate grievances about governance in our homeland without being mocked, belittled, or defamed."
Reflecting on the KRG official’s action, DeKelaita wrote: "When a public official responds to policy criticism with ridicule rather than rebuttal, that is not strength. It is institutional insecurity. Mature governance welcomes scrutiny; it does not attempt to silence it through insinuation or character attacks."
In his email, the Assyrian community leader also called on Assyrians to stand up for one another: "If one of our towns in the homeland is diminished, we are diminished. If one of our activists is targeted, we are targeted. An injury to any part of our national body is an injury to the whole."
Dekelaita, who has a successful career as a lawyer and is a well-respected community leader among Assyrian-Americans after decades of engagement, vowed to continue on his path: "Attempts to discredit my character for standing on national principles will not alter my course."
David Barsom
