[TomB]

Nonsense! Teddy had little patience for nation-building and "spreading democracy." Now....he took the Panama canal but, for the most part, his administration was a model of restraint in foreign policy compared to Wilson (who like modern pro-conservatives) who wanted to "liberate" and "uplift" every God-forsaken corner of the planet.

The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

Foreign intervention in Latin American resurfaced as an issue in U.S. foreign policy at the turn of the century as European governments began to use force to pressure several Latin American countries to repay their debts.. For example, British, German, and Italian gunboats blockaded Venezuela’s ports in 1902 when the Venezuelan government defaulted on its debts to foreign bondholders. Many Americans worried that European intervention in Latin America would undermine their country’s traditional dominance in the region. As part of his annual address to Congress in 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt stated that in keeping with the Monroe Doctrine the United States was justified in exercising "international police power" to put an end to chronic unrest or wrongdoing in the Western Hemisphere. This so-called Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine contained a great irony: whereas the Monroe Doctrine had been sought to prevent European intervention in the Western Hemisphere, the Roosevelt Corollary justified American intervention throughout the Western Hemisphere.

[My2Cents]

Precisely. I like TR's rationale: to put an end to chronic unrest and wrongdoing.

I agree with a previous post that conservatives' perspective changed on 9/11. Prior to 9/11, few conservatives were urging action against Saddam. The War on Terror made that action imperative, in Bush's strategy on the war. Many of us (most, likely) support and back up Bush on this. The fact that we can use US muscle to "put an end to chronic unrest and wrongdoing" as Bush is attempting to do in the Middle East doesn't mean we push our way around in every little hell-hole in the world, but that we pick our fights carefully, and intervene where it is consistent with our overall goals in the War on Terror. I think most Americans, and overwhelmingly most conservatives, do not accept pacifism in this War.

[Captain Kirk]

The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe doctrine was not unimportant but it was mostly just talk. As the distinguished historian, Howard Beale points out, he generally showed restraint during his tenure. Intervention in a major way began under Taft and Wilson.