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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A purported audio recording by the leader of Iraq's al Qaeda wing gloated over the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as a top U.S. general said the military was preparing to recommend strategy changes. Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, said in the recording posted on the Internet on Friday that the group has 12,000 armed fighters and 10,000 others waiting to be equipped to fight U.S. troops in Iraq. "I tell the lame duck (U.S. administration) do not rush to escape as did your defense minister ... stay on the battleground," he...

Fiber-optic cables used for high-speed Internet services are being severed by crows playing with the wires and using them for nesting material and perhaps as a form of stress relief, a phenomenon that increases with the breeding season.

FORT BLISS, Texas (Army News Service, May 15, 2006) – It’s safer than rolling across the battlefield in a steel tank and allows Soldiers to fire a remote weapon system from inside the tank without the gunner hatch open. Members of Company D, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment recently became the first U.S.-based unit to have the Common Remotely Operated Weapons Station, and the only unit in the world to have it mounted on Abrams tanks. “The CROWS mount on the tank gives an urban advantage so the tank commander doesn’t have to stick out of the hatch,” said 2nd...

4/28/2006 - KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- A new weapon system in the Air Force arsenal takes Airmen out of the gun turret and into the safety of a fully up-armored Humvee. The 506th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron operates the only Common Remote Operated Weapon Station, or CROWS, in the Air Force inventory. As one of three security forces squadrons in Iraq with an outside-the-wire combat patrol mission, CROWS offers an additional capability for the unit. The CROWS sensor unit includes a daylight video camera, a thermal imager for night operations and a laser rangefinder. It is furnished with...

CAMP ANACONDA, Iraq — Spc. David Norris swivels like a ball-turret gunner in an old bomber as he moves the internal turret of his Armored Security Vehicle to check for prowling insurgents on a main Iraqi road. With a turret that allows gunners to fire while inside the vehicle, three layers of armor and an imposing look, the ASVs also have a distinct psychological effect on those inside and out of the vehicles, soldiers said. The ASV is part of the evolving war-scape of Iraqi roads, which has proven to be a tough battleground for Humvees. Norris, 24, has been...

Crows, often touted as among the most intelligent of birds, may be finally getting the hint that downtown Riverton is no place to roost. Riverton police have killed thousands of the birds with shotguns in the last several weeks. City officials called a cease-fire after Monday's nightly fusillade after determining that the huge flocks seem to be moving out of the downtown area. "From what I've seen, it appears to me that crows are staying out of town," Mayor John Vincent said Tuesday. "They appear to be staying down by the river." That's a good thing. Police Chief John Snell...

The U.S. Army has discovered a remote control gun turret that works, and cannot get enough of them. The army wants over 9,000 CROWS (common remotely operated weapon stations), but is only getting 15 a month. There should be about a thousand CROWS in service by the end of the year. The idea for CROWS has been around for nearly half a century. Years of tinkering, and better technology, eventually made the remote control gun turret effective and dependable. CROWS us a real life saver, not to mention anxiety reducer, for troops who drive through bandit country a lot, and...

ABERDEEN, Md. (Army News Service July 15, 2005) – More than 24 Common Remotely Operated Weapon Stations have been installed on vehicles in Iraq and an additional five will be fielded in the next few weeks. The CROWS allow Soldiers in Iraq to engage the enemy from a light tactical vehicle without exposing the gunner at a distance. “We’ll have a total of 245 systems in the hands of Soldiers by early spring,” said Lt. Col. Kevin. P. Stoddard, Product Manager for Crew Served Weapons at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. Stoddard explained that an urgent material requirement provides a way to...

Warning over crow attacks By Luke David And Katharine Barney, Evening Standard 10 June 2005 Joggers are today being warned about violent crows in London parks after an attack left a man bloodied and needing hospital treatment. Justin Keay was swooped on by two crows in what experts have called a severe case of "mobbing" - where two or more birds gang up on an assumed predator to keep them away from their young. Now other runners are being told to stay well away from fledgling crows to avoid further attacks. Mr Keay today told how he was running his...

BERLIN - Why are toads puffing up and spontaneously exploding in northern Europe? It began in a posh German neighborhood and has spread across the border into Denmark. It's left onlookers baffled, but one German scientist studying the splattered amphibian remains now has a theory: Hungry crows may be pecking out their livers. "The crows are clever," said Frank Mutschmann, a Berlin veterinarian who collected and tested specimens at the Hamburg pond. "They learn quickly from watching other crows how to get the livers." So far, more than 1,000 toad corpses have been found at a pond in Hamburg and...

ARLINGTON, Va. — One of the most dangerous jobs in Iraq is acting as a gunner during convoy movements. Even up-armored Humvees, which provide added protection for most of the crew, leave the gunner exposed. But for the gunners assigned to four special up-armored Humvees in Iraq, convoy movements are a different experience: instead of spending the drive hunched in the turret, scanning their sectors and hoping for the best, these soldiers are comfortably seated the back of the vehicle, eyes glued to a computer screen and right hand on a PlayStation-like joystick. If the gunner, or someone else in...

FOR THE BIRDS: City plans an attack on a mob of crows that may number 60,000 to 80,000 - By SAMANTHA SOMMER, News-Sun Staff Writer At times, when Jodi Forshey passes by the new Lagonda Elementary School, she wonders whether she's in a Hitchcock movie. It's not lovebirds that catch her eye. It's the crowds of creepy crows that have descended on Springfield this fall and winter. "They don't bother me too much," said the Cecil Street resident who has seen hundreds of the crows perched on the school roof. “But they remind me of that movie ‘The Birds.’ ”...

After protesting a crow-shooting contest in Auburn, N.Y., animal rights activists Milo Polte '03, Brian Pease '00, Tim Slate '02 and Laura Carver were arrested on misdemeanor charges of trespassing and interfering with the legal taking of wildlife last Saturday. Released on $100 bail each, they are scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 22. The protesters played a recording of a crow "danger call" on a boom box as they drove around the property where the hunters were shooting. The recording of a crow supposedly warns other crows to leave the area. "They were absolutely in the process of...

AUBURN - With a Bible in his left hand, Bill Atkinson quoted scripture Sunday to explain why he thought it was wrong to participate in this past weekend's controversial crow hunt. Wearing a black fedora and a long coat, Atkinson, 51, a member of the First Love Ministries in Auburn, said it doesn't take going any further than the Ten Commandments to show his disdain of the two-day event that downed 380 crows - "Thou shall not kill." "It's incredibly shameful that they are killing these birds. It's got to come to an end," he said. "Personally, I'm glad the...