Military investigators are still piecing together the circumstances that led to the fatal crash of an Army Blackhawk helicopter in Afghanistan on Thursday. 

The Department of Veterans Affairs is boosting its mental health staff by 1,900 to help the growing number of soldiers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki announced the new hires Thursday, which include 1,600 mental health clinicians and 300 support staff.

“As the tide of war recedes, we have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to anticipate the needs of returning veterans,” Shinseki said in a statement.

Tehran announced a number of areas in the Persian Gulf would be off limits to U.S. warships in the region, and would treat any incursion into those waters as threat to Iran. 

The Obama administration has called the photos “reprehensible” and condemned them, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta apologized Wednesday.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress on Thursday that Russia has begun cooperating with the U.S. and its allies to stop Syria's violent suppression of anti-government forces. 

Senators who have tracked African warlord Joseph Kony for years are now hoping to capitalize on the massive interest surrounding the “Kony 2012” film with a viral video of their own.

A group of senators released a YouTube video Thursday that talks about their efforts to stop Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army and get people involved in the campaign.

While clips of senators speaking don’t exactly make for compelling viewing like the 30-minute film produced by California-based nonprofit Invisible Children, the senators say the video is one more step that can help bring an end to Kony’s reign of terror.

A bipartisan pair of lawmakers on Thursday questioned the Federal Aviation Administration's plan to test allowing drones to fly beside commercial airplanes in U.S. airspace.

The FAA is planning a pilot program that would allow unmanned aircraft to fly in six test sites. The agency said last month that the information from the test sites will be helpful in the full integration of unnamed aircraft into the U.S. aviation system.

But Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) said in a letter to to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta Thursday that the agency should produce information about how it plans to protect the privacy of American citizens if drone use is increased.

"As Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement March 7, 2012, 'Unmanned aircraft can help us meet a number of challenges, from spotting wildfires to assessing natural disasters,' " the lawmakers wrote.

"However, in addition to benefits, there is also potential for drone technology to enable invasive and pervasive surveillance without adequate privacy protections," the letter continued. "We are writing to express our concerns about the law's potential privacy implications and to requisition information about how the FAA is addressing these important matters." 

McCain, Graham and Lieberman called on President Obama and the international community to mobilize with a military response in Syria.

House Republicans demanded assurances from the White House and the Pentagon on Thursday that they will not be left out of the loop should the United States decide to take action in Syria.