Gaza: Biden’s ‘Pier to Nowhere,’ Over Budget and Redundant, Falls Apart in Inclement Weather

President Biden’s “Pier to Nowhere” — over budget, under attack, and already through a third of its three-month lifespan — lies in pieces off the coast of Gaza after operating just ten days. The Pentagon is scrambling to recover and repair lost components, delaying its mission even as more practical land routes open, rendering the boondoggle pointless.Four Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore vessels used to stabilize the pier lost power, snapped free from their anchors in rough seas, and ran aground over the weekend, the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary, Sabrina Singh, told reporters yesterday.One vehicle has been recovered and efforts are underway to salvage the rest — with the Israeli Navy’s help. Outside assistance is essential since, in his State of the Union Address, Mr. Biden pledged that there would be no American “boots on the ground” for the mission.Ms. Singh said that along with the lost vessels, the angry Mediterranean and a storm out of North Africa tore a section of the pier free from the Gaza coast yesterday morning. This follows an Israel Defense Forces video last week that showed portions of the pier “sinking,” adding to the logistical headaches. “Over the next 48 hours,” the Pentagon wrote in a summary of Ms. Singh’s statement, “U.S. forces will remove the pier from its anchored position on the coast and tow it back to the Israeli coastal city of Ashdod to begin repairs.” This indicates that boots will be on the ground in the war zone, if not in Gaza itself.Ms. Singh said that prior to halting operations, the pier had delivered “over 1,000 metric tons of aid,” but it’s likely none was distributed. Last week, reporters asked a spokesman for the Department of Defense, Major General Patrick Ryder, if it was “accurate to say zero has been delivered to the people of Gaza so far.”General Ryder cited relief delivered by air. Pressed on the pier, he said that a portion its first shipments had been “intercepted by some people who took that aid off those vehicles.” The tonnage figures, he said, are only what “has been delivered to the end of the pier to be brought into the marshaling area.”Asked again if “zero” aid from the artery had made it to civilians, General Ryder replied, “You’d have to check with the World Food Program.” The cost of the effort has also exploded even as it struggles to complete its mission.Speaking to Fox News Digital, a Republican congressman from Florida, Michael Waltz, put the pier’s price tag at $300 million. A Department of Defense official gave Reuters a number of $320 million — twice the Biden Administration’s estimate.Despite the “no boots on the ground” pledge, the project hasn’t been without risk for the 1,000 service members assigned to its construction and operation. Three have suffered injuries, including one that left an American in critical condition, requiring him to be airlifted to an Israeli hospital.Earlier this month, while a United Nations delegation was visiting the pier, Hamas launched a mortar attack against it. The ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee, Senator Wicker of Mississippi, told Reuters that the pier is a “dangerous effort with marginal benefit,” costing hundreds of millions of dollars to operate “for only 90 days.”Mr. Waltz expects the costs to balloon further, saying it’s “unclear” whether expenses such as fuel for the Navy destroyers providing security are included in the total. He was also concerned with theft. When the aid does make it to the warehouse, he said of the cargo, “it’s Hamas controlling.”When Mr. Biden announced the pier, it was to replace more efficient land routes that Israel had closed until security could be assured. However, on Sunday, the Rafah Crossing from Egypt was opened. A humanitarian fleet of 360 trucks flooded into the beleaguered enclave while the American sea route sat idle.The “pier to nowhere” was meant to ease suffering in Gaza and, with Mr. Biden’s reelection in doubt, relieve pressure from constituents. Now its mission lies in pieces and — with just 60 days remaining until it’s decommissioned — it’s shaping up to be another overseas failure for a president who once touted foreign policy as his strength.

Gaza: Biden’s ‘Pier to Nowhere,’ Over Budget and Redundant, Falls Apart in Inclement Weather

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