Report says Blair was aware of CIA activities after 9/11

Former British prime minister was fully aware of secret kidnapping and interrogation programs by the CIA spy agency following the 9/11 attacks, says a security source.

The security source, whose name was not mentioned in the report, told the Telegraph that Tony Blair and his foreign secretary, Jack Straw, were fully briefed on CIA activities and were kept informed “every step of the way” by MI6 following the 9/11 attacks, in which nearly 3,000 people died.

“The politicians knew in detail about everything – the torture and the rendition. They could have said [to M16] ‘stop it, do not get involved’, but at no time did they,” the source added.

He noted that the two British politicians were also shown legal opinions by the administration of former US President George W. Bush that declared the so-called “enhanced interrogation” techniques such as water-boarding and stress positions to be legal.

“The Americans passed over the legal opinions saying that this was now ‘legal’ and our politicians were aware of what was going on at the highest possible level,” the source said.

The remarks echoed comments by the then MI6 chief, Sir Richard Dearlove, who said in a speech in 2012 that MI6’s cooperation with the CIA rendition program was a “political” decision.