PRT NINEWA: NEITHER VICTORS NOR VANQUISHED . . .

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001287

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SIPDIS

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TAGS: PREL PGOV IZ
SUBJECT: PRT NINEWA: NEITHER VICTORS NOR VANQUISHED . . .
HONORING THE FALLEN WHERE MIGHTY ARMIES CLASHED

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1. (SBU) Summary: The cacophony of modern warfare receded
for a day, replaced by the imagined din of ancient armies
clashing on an Iraqi plain. Americans and Iraqis walked the
ground at Gaugamela where in 331 BC the army of the Alexander
the Great defeated that of Darius III of Persia. Soldiers
among us relived the military lessons of the campaign; the
diplomats considered the epochal implications of when east
met west on a bend in the Gomel River at the base of Magloub
Mountain. All came together to dedicate a memorial to the
fallen and to meditate on youth as the universal currency of
warfare across the ages. End summary.


2. (SBU) PRT Ninewa supported a May 10 Multinational
Division-North staff ride to the likely site of the Battle of
Gaugamela, Alexander's third and decisive victory over the
Persian Empire. The site favored by most scholars lies just
within Ninewa's Shaikhan District, where it joins with
Hamdaniya and Irbil. Division Commander MG Caslen led all
his brigade commanders and their Sergeants Major; he also
invited Iraqi Army Division Commanders (Arab and Kurd),as
well as the leadership of the Peshmerga. PRT secured
permission from the State Board of Antiquities to place a
monument, commissioned the stone via a QRF grant, and
obtained the permission of the mayor of Shaikhan to leave the
marker on a ridgeline above the field of battle.


3. (SBU) To walk a battlefield in the company of American
military officers and NCOs commanding troops in combat is a
remarkable experience, one that was not lost on our Iraqi
colleagues. Our American military colleagues analyzed the
battle with characteristic precision, identifying the key
decisions made before and after the fighting began,
contrasting the leadership styles of Darius and Alexander,
dissecting the role of technology in the campaign, and
seeking modern lessons from a battle fought over 2,000 years
ago. Our Iraqi colleagues grasped what we were trying to do;
they noted that Alexander led from the front, considered his
troops to be kinsmen, and fought the battle on his terms.
They noted that Alexander, when faced with a crisis of
Persians attacking his baggage train, intensified his assault
on a breach in the Persian lines, while Darius fled from the
scene when the tide turned against him.


4. (SBU) For the marker, we paraphrased an epigram from
Simonidis of Ceos, a poet who lived over a century before
Alexander and best known for his homage to the heroes of
Thermoplyae ("Go tell the Spartans, oh stranger passing by,
that here obedient to their laws we lie.") In English,
Arabic and Kurdish, we carved "near this site in 331 BC, the
armies of Alexander and Darius fought the Battle of
Gaugamela. Today's soldiers salute the honor-clad noble
warriors. You relinquished beloved youth for the rough cloud
of war."


5. (SBU) We opted not to mark Alexander's victory lest we
remind our Iraqi partners of a western army occupying
Mesopotamia. It turns out we were perhaps too sensitive,
fearing that the Iraqis might not appreciate the standard
triumphalism of the Alexander legend. Actually, the
Peshmerga and IA were proud of Alexander's generalship; one
reminded us that Alexander's invading army from the west had
at least defeated an invading army from the east.


6. (SBU) The retired Peshmerga general who led the staff
ride did not share our excessive sensitivity. Indeed, he
could not help himself; he just had to insert some propaganda
Qcould not help himself; he just had to insert some propaganda
of the most un-subtle variety. He reminded all present that
when God created mankind, it was in Kurdistan, adding that
when Noah made landfall after the Deluge, it was also in
Kurdistan. Although we were in the DIBs region, several
Peshmerga generals informed us that -- like Adam, Eve and
Noah before us -- we were actually in . . . yes . . .
Kurdistan. We settled on "we're in Iraq" but with a Kurdish
wink that PRT leader pretended to ignore given the delights
of standing on a ridge on a spectacular spring day.


7. (SBU) In his remarks unveiling the marker, PRT leader
noted that Alexander's was the second Greek army to have
marched through Ninewa. Some seventy years earlier and 15
miles to the west, Xenophon and 10,000 Greek mercenaries
headed north after their defeat at the Battle of Cuneixha.
PRT leader thanked PAS Baghdad for supporting the project,
and OPA for funding the marker through a QRF grant.


8. (SBU) Comment: As we grow older, our soldiers appear to
grow younger. As we honor our fallen at ceremonies
throughout Ninewa -- five in Mosul three weeks ago, two in
Qayarra last week, and one more in Qayarra the day after the
staff ride -- it is their dates of birth that stand out . . .
1987, 1988, 1983 . . . young Americans born when we had
already reached adulthood and who found a reservoir of
courage and sacrifice far deeper than our own. Simonidis
reminds us of the reality we face every day; heroic youth is
the currency of our statecraft. For their part, Alexander
and Xenophon remind us that there is honor in advance as well
as in withdrawal. End Comment.


BUTENIS