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Unhindered grabs for Power

Anyone who has watched a White House news conference will instantly recognise veteran journalist Helen Thomas - a doyen of the Washington press corps - in the front row.

"While President Bush has been distracted with his unpopular war against Iraq, friends and foes are busy grabbing power to perpetuate themselves in office.

Among them are Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan; Russian President Vladimir Putin; Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia.

There is little the United States can do about the drift toward authoritarian rule."

So begins a piece by Thomas in a column "US Friends and Foes Grabbing Power" in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer - as she assesses the actions of what look like 4 dictators or dictators in the making.

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