August 24, 2007 | By Nathaniel Ward

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Boycott the Beijing Olympics?

Several members of Congress are calling on America’s Olympic teams to boycott next year’s summer games in Beijing, China. They cite the communist regime’s human rights abuses, trade policies, nuclear proliferation, and support for brutal governments like those in Iran, Sudan, Burma and North Korea.

But is a boycott a practical response? “Realistically, a U.S. boycott of the Beijing Olympics is not feasible,” writes Heritage Asia expert John Tkacik.

“If not a boycott, then what?” Tkacik asks. He explains: “If the administration and Congress are serious about China’s persistent violation of human rights, labor rights, and civil and political rights, along with its myriad other depredations, they should do something more meaningful than pass symbolic, generally ineffectual congressional resolutions.”

“However, the advent of a new Olympic year is certainly an appropriate time for the administration and Congress to call attention to the increasingly repressive character of the Chinese regime.”

Take our poll: Should America boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics to protest Chinese policies?

What the CIA’s 9/11 report really tells us

Earlier this week, the government released the summary of a CIA report on counter-terrorism efforts before 9/11. But in their focus on the way the report assigned blame for the intelligence failures, the media overlooked the real meat of the story, Heritage national security expert James Carafano writes.

“The report’s most important finding,” he explains, “is its reaffirmation that the best way to combat terrorism is concerted and sustained intelligence and counterterrorism operations.” In addition, the report’s release at the insistence of Congress could have negative consequences on future reports, which may not be as candid if their confidentiality is not assured.

Carafano finds a few key lessons in the report:

• “Much of the post-9/11 effort to ensure that agencies cooperate and share information was necessary and appropriate, as was adding additional tools to investigate counterterrorism, such as those authorized under the Patriot Act.”
• New big-government policies, “including mandatory inspection of cargo containers and many other new regulatory requirements,” were not among “the many measures the report suggests might have stopped terrorist attacks.”

Is Europe doomed to economic stagnation?

Europe is stuck in a bit of a rut, says Sally McNamara, an expert on European affairs in Heritage’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom. Oppressive government regulation—170,000 pages of rules!—spurred by the European government in Brussels and a continuing refusal to adopt free-enterprise reforms is limiting opportunity and keeping the economy in check.

The economic statistics alone should be a wake-up call for European leaders:

Collectively, the 27 member states of the European Union make up the world’s largest trading economy. However, problems abound. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth has been continually sluggish in much of Western Europe, especially in France, Germany, Italy, and Portugal. As of February 2007, 22 EU member states had unemployment levels above the U.S. average of 4.5 percent. The employment rate of persons aged 15 to 64 in the EU is just 63 percent compared to 72 percent in the U.S. Additionally, the annual growth rate for the Euro Area has averaged just 2.1 percent per year, compared to 3.3 percent in the U.S.

But some countries are resisting the leftward tilt of Europe’s would-be central planners, McNamara continues. Ireland, for instance, turned its economy around through a series of market-based reforms, while Eastern European countries led by Estonia have adopted a flat tax, deregulated the market and almost fully privatized the economy. Estonia, she says, has with these reforms “created one of the world’s freest and most dynamic economies.”

“The biggest challenge for many European nations right now is to resist the powerful Brussels establishment, who continue to churn out reams of legislation to further solidify European integration.”

In other news

• Reason magazine’s Michael Moynihan rounds up recent news about socialized medicine. For example, a new report finds America’s cancer survival rates are better than any in Europe, and Britain’s National Health Service is increasingly failing seniors and has resorted to a lottery system to determine who gets care.
• Though a study finds that moose contribute to global warming, the researchers told reporters that there’s no reason to kill the animals to curtail their greenhouse gas emissions. Moose, they argue “have very important functions in nature” and killing them could have severe consequences. Might drastic proposals to curtail human greenhouse gas emissions also have severe consequences?
• A new report finds that Iraq’s government is unstable, though it concludes the security situation could improve if American troops continue their new counterinsurgency strategy. For the latest on Iraq, visit Heritage’s Progress in Iraq page.
• The Federal Election Commission is considering paring down its rules that limited free speech in election years. Since campaign finance “reform” passed the Congress, the government has imposed onerous restrictions on advertising about issues and candidates in the run-up to elections, but in June, the Supreme Court ruled certain of these restrictions impermissible.

Coming up at Heritage

To attend these or any other Heritage Foundation events, RSVP at Heritage’s events website. Or you can watch these events live online at Heritage.org. All times are Eastern.

• On Monday, August 27 at noon, a panel of experts including Heritage’s Robert Rector will debunk liberal distortions about new poverty data.
• On Tuesday, August 28 at noon, author Mark Halpern discusses his new book about the impact of tyrants on history.

Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation.

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