Centennial of Teddy's Corollary

by Liberty and Power

A HNN article by L and P blogger, William Marina, and myself marking the centennial of the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, and exploring parallels to the current Bush doctrine, has appeared. Enjoy .

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David T. Beito - 12/8/2004

Thanks. It was a toss-up between this one and one with T.R. twirling the glob on his finger.

Common Sense - 12/7/2004

The cartoon is marvelous for numerous reasons. To name just a few, it portrays a war-mongering TR about to blast a weak Aguinaldo with glee. This actually captures a bit of the cultural/racial history of the moment. It also gestures to the important Imperialism/Anti-imperialism debate of the age.

But it is interesting in a least two other ways related to Iraq. First, the man with the big gun (the U.S.) looks quite cruel. So it appears when the strong try to crush the weak. Yes, the man with the big gun will win the battle against this little man in the carton, but in Iraq, who will win the war? The perceived foreign oppressor? Will the big gun win hearts and minds, or will it turn more against us? People tend to like the underdog, at least when the bitch is related to them.

Second, it shows a basic American overestimation of the utility of superior firepower in insurgent situations. We now know that, for instance, American soldiers in the European Theater in WWII were in general not as good as Brits, Russians, or especially Germans
at tactical level engagements. (Even more true in WWI.) We did well strategically because of superior industrial capacity, not because we were great soldiers. But we were fighting against industrial powers, so we had the edge we needed. Will our industrial/technological edge help us in backward Iraq? Perhaps, but it will not be decisive.