First things first. I was never a big fan of Biden’s pier in Gaza. In general, giving aid and comfort to the enemy is never a good idea. Yes, I know the argument that it was only built to help out the citizens of Gaza and not Hamas. If you believe the pier and all that it brings into Gaza will not help Hamas at least as much as it aids the average citizen, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Need I remind you that Hamas is a terrorist organization? In my humble opinion, all terrorist organizations are enemies of the United States.
We, the United States of America, are helping both sides in the Israel/Hamas war. It doesn’t take a graduate of the War College to let you know that, at best, this is going to prolong the conflict, bringing about increasing amounts of death and destruction on both sides.
And, with that statement, I’ll take a step off my soapbox.
The Facts of the Matter
Biden’s Gaza pier is a failure that cost the US taxpayers nearly a quarter billion dollars. I don’t care who you ask; that’s not exactly chump change. Since it was completed in May this year, it has only been in operation for ten days. You can do the math on that one: $23 million dollars a day. What could we do with that money here at home? Well, for about $25 million bucks, we could build a brand new elementary school for our children. If you’ve ever visited my home state of Florida, you’ll know there is an urgent need for this…but I digress.
Biden’s pier was recently damaged significantly by rough seas. To date, we’ve spent an additional $22 million in repairs.
The pier, which you’ll often hear the Pentagon refer to as JLOTS (Joint Logistics Over the Shore), had to be relocated to the Israeli port of Ashdod for repairs. While we are on the subject, let’s not forget that one US service member was seriously injured while working on the pier as it broke apart, and he had to be flown to an Israeli hospital for treatment. Two others had less significant injuries and were treated and returned to duty. Over 1,000 US troops in total labored to put the pier in place.
A Temporary Bandaid
Military planners always knew the pier was not a long-term solution to anything. Original estimates talked of the pier having to be dismantled in September when seas become too rough to sustain such a structure. Today, there is talk that it may have to be dismantled as early as next month. That would make it barely qualify as an expensive gesture.
The one saving grace in all this is that the pier has not been the target of an attack, at least not yet. After the daring daylight rescue of four hostages by Israeli Special Forces, the internet was flooded with rumors that the pier was used to help facilitate the rescue. US Central Command (CENTCOM) was quick to squash that idea. Major General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, discussed what he called “inaccurate social media allegations” that the pier was utilized during the rescue, but he did admit there was “some kind of helicopter activity” near the pier during the rescue.
I give the Gaza pier one more month before we can officially call it a 300 million dollar failure. And are those porta potties? I bet they are spotless. pic.twitter.com/trn4AYBylm
— Eric CIAramella’s Dirty Whistle (@TheAndersPaul) June 14, 2024
Aid workers on the ground in the region report that only about 7 truckloads of aid per day ever reached Gaza directly from the pier. This is far short of the projected 150 trucks of aid per day that were supposed to be delivered.
The Director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies states for the record, regarding the usefulness of the pier:
“The volume is negligible. And the seas are just going to get rougher and rougher.”