The Revo’ Guard skips a crackdown  The decision by Tunisian and
Egyptian armies not to crush the pro-democracy movement may be
having an effect in an unexpected place: Iran.  In a speech last
Thursday in Tehran, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces,
Maj. Gen. Hassan Firuzabadi has said that pro-democracy
uprisings in the Middle East should not be regarded as “shallow
political agitations.”  “The people of the region are on the
march for independence, freedom and Islamic democracy,” he said.
Addressing officer cadets, Firuzabadi said the task of the
military is “to protect the frontiers of the country and defend
its sovereignty” rather than the regime in place.  As an example
of army chiefs who ran counter to the will of their people,
Firuzabadi cited “the terrible fate of Saddam’s Hussein’s
generals in Iraq.”  The official news agency IRNA gave a brief
account of the speech but the rest of the state-owned media
ignored it.  The general’s speech came days after Iran’s own
pro-democracy movement staged ma