Biden's Pier in Gaza Could Make U.S. Builders and Protectors Sitting Ducks for Terrorist Missiles and Drones, Expanding the War
By Robert Weiner and Ben Kearney
President Biden and the Pentagon's emergency mission to establish a pier in Gaza, a goal of which the President stated in his State of the Union on March 7th is intended to provide mass humanitarian assistance -- a worthy and necessary goal -- to the 2.3 Million people currently displaced and nearing famine. But as the United Nations passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire on March 25th, what's to stop terrorists from firing missiles at the pier to kill military personnel? Short answer, there isn't.
With the recent Israeli drone strike on April 1st that killed seven aid workers, the plan hangs in a sea of doubt. Peter Semler, the Chief Executive Editor and Owner of Capitol Intelligence Group, told us, "The Israeli hit on the WCK [Work Central Kitchen] was a gift to Hamas and Iran."
The danger of Biden's pier in the Mediterranean Sea at Gaza could make U.S. builders and protectors sitting ducks for terrorist missiles and drones. If just one U.S. army member is killed whilst building the pier, the United States will become more and more invested in the war, just like Vietnam. Former U.S. ambassador to Syria Robert Ford said in an interview with the New York Times, "The Biden humanitarian efforts in Gaza so far may make a few people in the United States feel good. But, this is applying a very small Band-Aid to a very big wound."
Some military experts have noted the plan lacks detail, is dangerous to troops, and leaves out that aid is already at and seems ready to increase at the Gaza borders. However, inspections, lack of security, and incidents where Israel has been accused of attacking aid workers, Palestinians, and Hamas thefts of supplies have prevented those critical deliveries.
Retired U.S. Lt. Col. Daniel Davis said on March 13th, "Biden is committing the United States military to conducting a highly complex, very expensive, low-production operation to bring food into the strip -- when Biden could massively increase the amount of food into the strip with far less effort or expense: demand that Israel merely open the damn gates and roll the hundreds of trucks awaiting entry right now."
Now several ships are traveling together and are nearing Gaza in the coming week. However, building won't start until the middle of this month with a May completion date for the pier and the causeway. However, Biden addressed in his State of the Union, "Israel must allow more aid into Gaza and ensure humanitarian workers aren't caught in the crossfire."
An Associated Press report on March 9th cites claims by the Biden administration that the "Israeli government will maintain security at the pier and protect it from any attacks by Hamas." No U.S. troops will step foot into Gaza during the proposed plan to build the pier within sixty days.-- they will stay out on the pier. So, if Israel and the U.S. joint-collaborate on building the pier, terrorists can go after both of them together in one fell swoop.
There have been few direct sea arrivals into Gaza, a place with no port infrastructure and blockaded by the Israeli navy since 2007. The Department of Defense's Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) plan, presented by Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, is to establish an "approximately 1,800-foot-long causeway that will be attached to the shore, and a group of logistic support vessels and barges that will transport the aid from the pier to the causeway. Once the aid has reached the two-lane causeway, it can be transported to the land and distributed to Gaza."
Ryder assured that the DOD is focused on the security of its personnel and working with partners in the region to "ensure that the aid that is delivered can be distributed in a safe and secure way". This would also include a contribution of more than 1,000 American troops, adding more people to become sitting ducks if an attack is carried out on the pier. This appears to be war expansion incrementalism-- a la U.S. "trainers" in Vietnam at the beginning.
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