The revelation that 11 commercial jets are missing from Libya — and could be used in a 9/11-type terror attack — is not surprising given the United States' dwindling intelligence in the Middle East, Emmy-winning journalist Sharyl Attkisson says.
"How can we be surprised that this has happened? It seems like we have not had our finger on the pulse of the developments in that part of the world for a long time," the former CBS News reporter said Wednesday on
Newsmax TV's "The Steve Malzberg Show."
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"The United States' policy has been to address each thing that comes up as if it's his own separate and unique circumstance when clearly there's just a huge movement that is interconnected.
"It's disturbing with the intelligence that we have, as much money as we pour into this system, and as much latitude as we give our government to collect information, that we would be surprised that the jetliners are missing," Attkisson said.
According to news reports, 11 commercial jets from Libyan Airlines and Afriqiyah Airways were captured in August after terrorists raided an airport in Tripoli. Photos have emerged showing the terrorists posing with some of the missing jets.
U.S. officials worry the airliners could be used in attacks on the 13th anniversary of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, which took place on Sept. 11, 2001.
"You would like to think that we would have intelligence that would have alerted us to this much sooner or alerted to it perhaps even before it happened," Attkisson said. "Obviously if that's indeed an accurate report, it's of huge concern."
On the subject of the ongoing congressional probe into the IRS and its alleged targeting of conservative groups, Attkisson believes not much will happen.
"There's a strategy that seems to be employed. Drizzle out bits of the truth in such small dribs and drabs that when it finally comes out people are kind of numb to it, they think they've heard it before," she said.
"There are some in Congress who will continue pounding away at it but enough of them don't seem to have the will to use their authority in a way that would really get us answers the way a court can, sadly."
Last week in an interview with Steve Malzberg, Rep. Paul Ryan vowed to keep investigating the IRS scandal and will "keep digging" until the truth is uncovered.
"We've got to get to the bottom of it and we've got to hold people accountable so that it doesn't happen again," said Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican and chairman of the House Budget Committee.
"This isn't about a witch hunt and about settling scores, this is about getting government right, in its respectful role, so that the citizen [whom] the government is supposed to work for has confidence in their own government. Right now, they don't."