America’s Gaza pier broke into pieces. Its story is a microcosm of what’s wrong with the Biden presidency.
Joe Biden declared in his State of the Union address that the US Army would build a pier off of the Gaza coast in order to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. The pier was built for over $300 million. Some highlights:
*The pier can bring in only a fraction of goods that can be easily brought in by truck.
*The pier is susceptible to attack and defensive systems have been identified in the area of the pier.
*The food brought in via the pier was stolen by Hamas. By US admission, nothing brought in through the pier has reached civilians in Gaza.
*The pier began to break down last week, with two pieces beaching near Ashdod in Israel.
*The pier further broke down supposedly in bad weather and will be taken for repairs.
Let’s take it from the top: why did the US feel compelled to build a billion shekel pier in the first place? When you say a billion shekels, you can actually get an Israeli to look over his falafel in a pita sandwich. The US accused Israel of not bringing in enough aid to the Hamas-loving civilians of Gaza. One has to remember that Israel’s Gaza crossings were attacked on 10/7, where soldiers and civilians were murdered. Israel was able to get hundreds of trucks a day into the Strip by the time of Biden’s speech, and the Egyptians were also delivering via Rafah. Hamas stole a very large percentage of the goods that entered, as did individuals who wanted food for themselves and their families. A recent report has stated that enough food has been brought into the Strip for the well-being of the locals. A Gazan recently reported on Facebook that with Rafah closed and the trucks from there not being hijacked, Israel, with fewer trucks, has brought the price of eggs down from $2 for one to $3 for ten. There is more food in the market and it is cheaper.
So if the pier could not provide significant aid to the Palestinians, why did the US build it? The answer is to undermine an ally, a common theme in the Biden presidency in its treatment of Israel. The geniuses over at the Pentagon and Foggy Bottom knew that Israel would make a dash for Rafah—it had to. All of those hundreds of thousands of RPG’s and rifles could have only come through Rafah. Once Israel controlled the Gazan side of the Egyptian border, there would be no entry of goods not directly controlled by Israel. Even the Mediterranean side of Gaza is heavily patrolled by the Israeli navy. So, when it comes time to rebuild Gaza, Israel will have the final say on what goes in—including dual use items like cement that can either build a new home up or a new tunnel down. The US wants to keep one entry point out of Israeli hands, and that could spell danger for Israel. As Churchill noted, “The only thing worse than fighting a war with allies is fighting one without.” The pier was built as a veto mechanism over Israeli control of Gaza’s future. If Israel does not want to allow piping in, the US can always deliver it through its pier entry.
Besides accusing Israel of not bringing in enough food, the US military has once again telegraphed to China and the world that it is incompetent. It wasn’t enough that ships were hitting each other or billion dollar ships were catching fire or the army was running out of Afghanistan with billions in equipment left behind. No, we had to show our enemies that we do not know how to build a simple pier. The British famously landed their “Mulberries” at Normandy where they received huge amounts of men and material—even after one of the piers was destroyed by bad weather. They provided the Allies with their needs until a proper port was captured. Don’t our engineers know about tides and bad weather? For $320 million, couldn’t they have built something that would be the envy of the world?
The goal of building the now derelict pier was to prevent Israel from achieving victory. The West has become so accustomed to losing, that it wishes to share that feeling with Israel. We will limit which weapons we will send you, don’t go into Rafah, do not kill too many civilians, take Hamas’ terms and end the war. Israel knows that it must win or 10/7 will be repeated, its enemies will be emboldened and its people will feel a self-loathing like there was in the US after Vietnam. The pier was the Biden administration insurance policy that Israel will not win this war. Sure, it was passed off as a mechanism for bringing in even more goods to the Gazan people. But its ultimate purpose was to serve as a veto over any Israeli plans after the war.
Publicly at least, Israel does not know what will be with Gaza after the war. Who will run it? Who will secure it? It appears that Israel has cleared buildings for a one kilometer no-man's-land near the border fence. Israel has ruled out building communities again in Gaza. I think it is a mistake. Just as a king of old married his vanquished enemy’s wife to show who’s boss, Israel setting up a few towns and army bases would sear into the Gazans’ understanding that their 10/7 bloodlust has cost them a real price: land. But whatever Israel decides, the US can either remove its pier or keep it as a kind of wildcard to allow for goods to enter that Israel may not allow via its controlled crossings. My hope is by the time that subject comes up for real consideration, Donald Trump will again be president.