‘As we await more apocalyptic incidents this April, the student of history is drawn to the lessons of the battles of Granicus and Gaugamela…’
I STRONGLY condemn the serious escalation represented by the large-scale attack launched on Israel by the Islamic Republic of Iran this evening. I call for an immediate cessation of these hostilities. I am deeply alarmed about the very real danger of a devastating region-wide escalation. I urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontations on multiple fronts in the Middle East. I have repeatedly stressed that neither the region nor the world can afford another war.” — United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres; https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2024-04-13/statement-the-secretary-general-regarding-attacks-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-targeting-israel]
“I am deeply concerned about the unfolding situation in the Middle East, involving the launch by Iran of drones and missiles against Israel. The Iranians have explained their action in the context of Article 51 of the UN Charter, following the recent Israeli attack on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus. The Iranian response compounds the already tense and delicate peace and security situation in the Middle East… A vicious cycle of attack and counter-attack will lead nowhere, but inevitably, to more death, suffering and misery.
Dialogue and diplomacy are the only way to resolve any differences through peaceful means.” — Dennis Francis, https://www.un.org/pga/78/2024/04/13/statement-by-the-president-of-the-un-general-assembly-mr-dennis-francis-on-attacks-by-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-against-israel/]
The deployment of 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles against military facilities in Israel by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and its proxies operating out of Yemen, Syria and Iraq (Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, Hezbollah, Houthis) was not only the first time in this decade/millennium that Israel was directly attacked by the military of another state but also the largest drone strike in history (thus far). The evening Ya Rasul Allah attack on the Nevatim Airbase and other sites in Israel was the “serious retribution” promised by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (the 84-years-old Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic) for the 01 April 2024 Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate annex building in Damascus, Syria (which killed senior Quds Force commander Brigadier Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi and other high-ranking members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards).
Tehran’s Operation True Promise (va’de-ye sdeq), which was frustrated by Israel’s Operation Iron Shield (with assistance from American, British, French, Jordanian forces), along with the Mahsa Amini hijab protests, UN Security Council resolution 1701 (c. 2006), the 13 April 2024 Iranian commando seizure of the Portuguese-registered, Madeira-flagged container ship MSC Aries within international waters off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, the 03 January 2024 Islamic State’s terrorist bombings of a funeral procession in Kerman, Iran (killing 23 students, 14 Afghans, three paramedics and 54 other people), and the 15-16 January 2024 Iranian missile attacks at Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan will only hasten the outbreak of World War Three. [https://isis-online.org/uploads/isis-reports/documents/Iran_Threat_Geiger_Counter_February_2024_FINAL.pdf] [https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-01/pope-francis-epiphany-angelus-appeal-peace-war-palestine-ukraine.html]
As we await more apocalyptic incidents this April, the student of history is drawn to the lessons of the battles of Granicus and Gaugamela: “The climax of a war between east and west that had been intermittently waged for more than a century and a half. The Achaemenid Empire was one of the greatest of the ancient world, a vast domain that stretched from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean to the borders of India, from Egypt and modern-day Turkey through Iran and Iraq and as far east as Samarkand. Upwards of 35 million people lived under Persian rule.” [https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/alexanders-triumph-at-gaugamela/]
Not only were these the first major Western victories against the Persians but the combat also gave the Macedonian his reputation as the Invincible: “Many rushed upon Alexander, for he was conspicuous by his buckler and by his helmet’s crest, on either side of which was fixed a plume of wonderful size and whiteness. But although a javelin pierced the joint of his breastplate, he was not wounded; and when Rhoesaces and Spithridates, two Persian commanders, made at him together, he avoided the one, and smote Rhoesaces, who wore a breastplate, with his spear; and when this weapon snapped in two with the blow, he took to his sword. Then, while he was thus engaged with Rhoesaces, Spithridates rode up from one side, raised himself on his horse, and with all his might came down with a barbarian battle-axe upon Alexander’s head. Alexander’s crest was broken off, together with one of its plumes, and his helmet could barely and with difficulty resist the blow so that the edge of the battle-axe touched the topmost hair of his head. But while Spithridates was raising his arm again for another stroke, Cleitus, ‘Black Cleitus,’ got the start of him and ran him through the body with his spear. At the same time, Rhoesaces also fell, smitten by Alexander’s sword.” [Plutarch. The Parallel Lives. Vol. VII. The Life of Alexander (Part 1 of 7) https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/plutarch/lives/alexander*/3.html]
That was Granicus in May 334 BCE. As for Gaugamela (October 1, 331 BCE): “Decisive battle in the war between Macedonia and the Achaemenid Empire, fought in northern Iraq. The outcome was influenced by a celestial omen that announced the imminent downfall of the Persian king Darius III Codomannus and the succession by Alexander the Great.” [https://www.livius.org/articles/battle/gaugamela-331-bce/] [Battle of Gaugamela–Alexander the Great–Massive Historical Cinematic Total War Battle, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEKr64_5I_A]
“As soon as Darius set his whole battle line in motion, Alexander ordered Aretes to attack those who were riding clear around his right wing; and up to that time, he was himself leading his men in column. But when the Persians made a break in the front line of their army, when their cavalry charged to aid those executing the flanking movement, Alexander wheeled towards the gap, and forming a wedge as it were of the ‘Companion’ cavalry and of the part of the phalanx which was posted here, he led them with a quick charge, and a loud battle cry straight towards Darius. Then came a short hand-to-hand melee; but when the Macedonian horse, led by Alexander himself, pressed on vigorously, thrusting themselves against the Persians and striking their faces with their spears, and when the Macedonian phalanx in dense array, bristling with long pikes, had joined in the attack, general terror smote Darius, whose courage already had been shaken; so that he was the first to turn and flee. Likewise, the Persians who were trying to outflank, panic-stricken at the vigorous attack of Aretes, took to flight; and in this quarter the Macedonians chased after and slaughtered the fugitives.” [Greek historian Arrian, “Alexander Defeats The Persians, 331 BC,” EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2000)]
