European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 31, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday March 312007 stars and stripes Page 9 in the states aide Gonzales Miers okd firings by Laurie Kellman the associated press Washington contrary to his Public statements attorney general Alberto Gonzales was deeply involved in the firing of eight Federal prosecutors his former top aide said thursday adding that the final decision on who was to be dismissed was made by Gonzales and president Bush former counsel i dont think the attorney generals statement that he was not involved in any discussions of us attorney removals was accurate Kyle Sampson who quit this month As Gonzales chief of staff told the Senate judiciary committee i remember discuss ing with him this process of ask ing certain us attorneys to re sign responding to questions from sen Sheldon Whitehouse Del Sampson rejected the notion that the dismissals were ordered by Young or inexperienced Justice department officials the decision makers in this Case were the attorney general and the counsel to the president he told the Senate judiciary com Mittee i and others made staff recommendations but they were approved and signed off on by the principals David j us attorney general Alberto Gonzales onetime chief of staff Kyle Sampson told the Senate judiciary committee on thursday that Gonza Les pictured and former White House counsel Harriet Miers approved the firings of eight us prosecutors the White House response was notably muted in going to have to let the at Torney general speak for him self White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Simpsons testimony and thou Sands of emails released Over the past two weeks Point to a much deeper involvement by Gonzales and the White House counsel Harriet Miers in discus Sions taking place Over several months about which us attorneys to fire the attorney general was aware of this process from the be ginning in Early 2005 Sampson testified thursday he and i had discussions about it during the thinking phase of the process then in the More final phase he asked me to make sure that the process was appropriate thank you join us in thanking Yokosuka mar for donating free copies of stars and stripes to select military and support personnel in Yokosuka Negishi and Ike go to subscribe to stars and stripes please Call 2434777 or email today Yokosuka mar sponsored papers on March 31 2007 Yokosuka your Hometown newspaper  Gonzales said on March 13 that he did not participate in discus Sions or see any documents about the firings documents released last week show he attended a nov 27 meeting with senior aides on the topic where he approved a detailed plan to carry out the dismissals Gonzales later recanted saying he had signed off on the plan to fire the prosecutors Sampson sitting alone at the witness table said the fired prosecutors were found to be insufficiently committed to the presi dents la enforcement Priori ties his appearance was the lat est act i a political drama that has shaken the Bush administration and imperilled Gonzales ten ure at the Justice department Gonzales planned to meet with us attorneys from the Midat lactic Region at Justice depart ment Headquarters thursday wrapping up a multistage tour i which he touted the Agency crackdown on child predators As he travelled the Justice department unravelled according to sen Arlen Specter spa it is generally acknowledged that the department of Justice is in a state of disrepair perhaps even dysfunction because of what has happened Specter said United pentecostal Church International Asia military ministries Okinawa Japan Rufus Parker and coordinator 0989333441 Japan Marcus Miller 2676887 Misawa Japan Phillip Sanders 2227077 Yokosuka Japan Christopher Corley 2465732 Yokota Japan Nathan Krouse 2273954 Korea Santiago Duran 011 93583794 Yon san Korea Michael Mahoney 0263555233 for service location time please Call the Contact in your area Senate votes to fund wars leave Iraq by Anne Flaherty the associated press democrats ignored a veto threat and pushed through a Bill thursday requiring president Bush to Start withdrawing troops from the civil War in Iraq dealing a rare Sharp rebuke to a wartime com Mander in chief in a mostly part line 5147 vote the Senate signed off on a Bill providing billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghani Stan it also orders Bush to begin withdrawing troops within 120 Days of passage while setting a nonbinding goal of ending com Bat operations by March 312008 the vote came shortly after Bush invited All House republicans to the White House to appear with him in a sort of Pep rally to bolster his position in the continuing War policy fight we stand United in saying loud and Clear that when weve got a troop in harms Way we expect that troop to be fully funded Bush said surrounded by re publicans on the North portico and we got commanders making Tough decisions on the ground we expect there to be no strings on our commanders we expect the Congress to be Wise about How they spend the Peoples Money he said saudi admits Money role not terror link the associated press Washington a saudi accused of arranging financing for the sept 11 2001 terrorist plot participants told a hearing he got Money transfers from two Hijack ers inside the United states just hours before the attacks Accord ing to a transcript the Pentagon released thursday but Mustafa Ahmad Al Haw Sawi who was based in the United Arab emirates on sept 11 2001 denied that he was a Mem Ber of the Al Aida terrorist net work and also denied that he sent Money to the hijackers he is one of 14 High value detainees who were transferred to Guantanamo last september after being held in secret Cia prisons abroad the transcript of his Guantanamo hearing contained no refer ence to his detention a portion in which he explained How he was captured in Pakistan in 2003 was censored by the defense depart ment