Editor's note: CGTN has curated a series of cartoons titled "Fading Beacon of Democracy" to illustrate how the United States has contradicted its own democratic construct. The first installment, released on the 20th anniversary of the Iraq War, details how the U.S. war machine bombed its "democracy" calling card to shreds along the way.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Iraq war waged by the United States. On March 20, 2003, the U.S. and its Western allies wantonly invaded Iraq, bypassing the UN Security Council despite strong oppositions from international community, on the pretext of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction. Twenty years on and the U.S. still hasn't found any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, despite having completely devastated the country and left its regime in disarray, with extremist groups, terror attacks and religious conflicts expanding inexorably.

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter once said that the United States would be the most warlike country on Earth. According to the book America Invades: How We've Invaded or been Militarily Involved with almost Every Country on Earth, the U.S. has fought wars or been militarily intervened in almost all the 190-odd countries recognized by the UN with only three exceptions. Why were they "spared?" Because the U.S. didn't find them on the map.

During its over 240 years of history, the U.S. has not been involved in wars for only 16 years. According to incomplete statistics, from the end of World War II in 1945 to 2001, among the 248 armed conflicts that occurred in 153 regions of the world, 201 were initiated by the U.S. Since 2001, it has waged wars and military operations in 85 countries in the name of combating terrorism or defending democracy. What the America brought to them were not promising futures but pain and destruction.

The Afghanistan War, waged by the U.S. in 2001, has killed more than 100,000 Afghans including civilians, soldiers and police officers, and caused over 10 million people displaced, leaving the country into a long spell of turmoil and political uncertainties. The Bush administration had explicitly claimed that it would be partners in rebuilding Afghanistan but the Biden administration denied it. The 20-year war ended after U.S. military hastily withdrew from the territory. Later on, the U.S. announced that it would freeze some $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank, a move seen as "pure looting." The war has ruined the economy and impoverished the people.

The U.S.'s military hegemony has led to numerous humanitarian tragedies. Since 2001, wars and military operations launched by the U.S. in the name of fighting terrorism have claimed over 900,000 lives and created 37 million refugees globally. Since 2012, the number of Syrian refugees alone has increased tenfold.

Wars are not only humanitarian tragedies but also disasters to human civilizations. Iraq is one of the birthplaces of human civilizations. During the war, a number of precious cultural relics stored at National Museum of Iraq were stolen, and museums were destroyed and the Islamic library of Baghdad, where the world's oldest version of Quran was stored, was burned. Also, the ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, were extensively destroyed during the proxy war in Syria waged by the U.S.

However, the U.S. military-industrial complex, a coalition of super-interest groups consisting of the government, the armed forces and defense contractors, Congress, research institutes, think tanks, etc, have hugely benefited from wars and military conflicts by selling weapons and panic-mongering. From the Gulf War to the Kosovo War, the Afghanistan War to the Iraq War, and the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, how much blood money have they profiteered at the cost of lives and peace?

The U.S. also interferes into the internal affairs of other countries, inciting anti-government insurgencies and coups. It is obsessed with imposing U.S.-styled democracy on other countries against their wishes, to reshape their regimes, and even the world's order. But the U.S. democracy is not an elixir at all, those who've taken it just found it's not working.

To maintain its political, economic, sci-tech, military and cultural hegemony, the U.S. is driving its war machine, and bombing its "democracy" calling card to shreds along the way.

(To submit cartoons and share story ideas or feedback on our cartoon page, please contact us at cartoon_opinions@cgtn.com)