In 1967, the Cambodia Civil War, an outcrop of the Vietnam War, ignited. The eight year war ended with between 275,000-310,000 deaths.
That same year the Six-Day War saw the conflict between Israel and coalition of Arab countries, including Egypt, Syria and Jordan. In less than a week almost 1,000 people had been killed as a result.
Not to be forgotten is the Nigeria Civil War that lasted from 1967 to 1970 and left between 45,000 and 100,000 combatants dead.
Moving ahead to 1968, that year saw the beginning of “The Troubles”, a conflict in Northern Ireland that last more than three decades. Amazingly there were only slightly more than 3,500 deaths among combatants and civilians.
In the 1970s there was the Jordanian Civil War, the Chilean coup d’ état, the Ethiopian Civil War, Argentina’s Dirty War, the wars in Angola, Lebanon and Laos, 1978’s Cambodia-Vietnam War, the El Salvador Civil War and the Soviet-Afghan War.
The year 1980 introduced the Iran-Iraq War while two years later the Falklands War, pitted Argentina against the United Kingdom, and the Lebanon War got underway. The United States briefly invaded Grenada in 1983 and three years later we bombed Libya. The Intifada lasted from 1987-1993 and then it invaded Panama in 1989.
The Gulf War started in 1990 and the Rwanda Civil War also started that year. The Bosnian War started in 1992 as did the Afghan Civil War. The Kosovo War started in 1998 and the second Chechen War closed out the millennium.
The Iraq War started in 2002 and ended in 2011 while the Chadian Civil War took place in between.
Russia invaded Ukraine the first time in 2014 and again in 2022.
When Hamas attacked Israel in October that war joined the oodles of others that have been fought throughout history.
Fifty-six years ago, in 1967 and the tail end of the Vietnam War, Stevie Wonder first performed “Someday at Christmas”, a song in which he sings “Someday at Christmas men won’t be boys, playing with bombs like kids with toys.” The Christmas wish for tranquility is as timeless as it is naive. Nonetheless it is worth making.
Merry Christmas, happy holidays and peace on earth to you in the coming year.
