Biden’s grand Gaza pier scheme collapsed faster than a house of cards in a windstorm. Former President Joe Biden’s $230 million floating pier, meant to funnel aid to Gaza, limped along for less than three weeks before high seas and military mismanagement sank it.
The Daily Caller reported that in a single sentence, the pier, announced during Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address to deliver aid without Israeli land routes, became a $230 million debacle that injured 62 U.S. troops and delivered just one day’s worth of supplies.
The Pentagon’s watchdog report, dropped last Friday, paints a picture of a military caught flat-footed. No wonder the working-class taxpayer is left footing the bill for this elitist pipe dream.
Biden’s big reveal in March 2024 promised a game-changer for Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. The plan? Build a floating pier using Army causeway sections and Navy lighterage systems to ship in aid. Sounds great until you realize the military hadn’t trained for it, and the equipment wasn’t even compatible.
The pier’s construction was a comedy of errors, if you find injuries and waste funny. Sixty-two service members got banged up, many during pier assembly or shipboard mishaps. One soldier, Army Sgt. Quandarius Stanley tragically died months later from a forklift accident tied to the project.
“Not organized, trained, or equipped,” the Pentagon report scolded, pointing fingers at the Army and Navy. That’s what happens when you rush a photo-op without doing the homework.
The military’s Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore units were gutted years before, with the Army selling off watercraft in 2018-2019 and the Navy decommissioning a key unit in 2023.
By May 2024, the pier was up, but Mother Nature had other plans. High seas battered the structure, forcing repeated dismantling and towing to Ashdod, Israel. On May 25, a U.S. Army vessel even ran aground there, because nothing could go right.
The pier managed to deliver 20 million pounds of aid, roughly a single day’s worth for Gaza. That’s $230 million for a drop in the bucket. Meanwhile, Palestinians swarmed aid trucks near Nuseirat on May 18, highlighting the desperation Biden’s plan failed to address.
Equipment incompatibility was the real kicker. Navy pier components didn’t play nice with Army watercraft, wrecking ramps, and platforms. Over $31 million in gear was trashed, a bitter pill for taxpayers already skeptical of government overreach.
“USTRANSCOM did not fully exercise its authority,” the watchdog report noted, blasting the command for skipping joint training standards. So much for unity of effort. Sounds like the kind of bureaucratic fumble that thrives in Washington’s ivory towers.
By June 2024, the pier was abandoned, a floating testament to hubris. Repeated storms made it unusable, and the military threw in the towel. Actions have consequences, and this one left scars on our troops and holes in our wallets.
The Pentagon report didn’t mince words: “Army and Navy did not allocate sufficient maintenance, manning, training.” Yet USTRANSCOM, ever defiant, rejected key oversight fixes. Why reform when you can just shrug and move on?
Only two Army and Navy units remain capable of such missions, a grim reality check. The report urged rebuilding watercraft capacity and funding joint training. But with USTRANSCOM dragging its feet, don’t hold your breath.
The Army and Navy promised changes, but promises are cheap. USTRANSCOM’s refusal to commit to reforms suggests more failures down the road. Taxpayers deserve better than this cycle of waste and excuses.
Biden’s pier was a flashy gesture, not a strategy. It ignored the military’s dwindling capacity and the harsh realities of Gaza’s logistics. Traditional American values—planning, competence, accountability—were tossed overboard.