Democratic Peace Theory

For those of you that don't know, the democratic peace theory essentially contends that democratic states are less apt to go to war against other democratic states than non-democratic states; at the same time, it also contends that democratic states generally have better relations with each other. This theory is heavily debated among scholars of international relations. While it is true that democratic states have never gone to war with each other, the theory does have it's flaws. From [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_peace_theory]Wikipedia[/url] : "Those who dispute this theory often do so on grounds that it conflates correlation with causation, and that the academic definitions of 'democracy' and 'war' can be manipulated so as to manufacture an artificial trend". What do you think? Do you think the theory holds some empirical value or do you think it is hogwash? Why? On a related note: What do you think of democracy promotion as a component of US foreign policy? This includes both military actions and the utilization of soft power to promote democracy.