President Joe Biden admitted during his Thursday NATO press conference that his plan to attach a temporary pier to Gaza to deliver aid was a failure.
“I’ve been disappointed that some of the things that I’ve put forward have not succeeded as well, like the port we attached from Cyprus. I was hopeful that would be more successful,” he said.
The pier, which cost at least $230 million in American taxpayer funds, was operational for approximately 20 days and delivered about one day’s worth of food, according to one report.
Biden announced the pier with great fanfare during his State of the Union speech in March. It took more than 1,000 U.S. troops to implement, with many of them deploying from Virginia to construct it.
The pier went operational on May 17 but broke apart a little more than a week later. Breitbart News obtained an exclusive video of the pier being battered by waves shortly before it broke apart:
Obtained by Breitbart News
Biden administration officials blamed the pier breaking apart on unforeseeable weather, but naval experts say that the pier — which was known as a Joint Logistics Over the Shore system (JLOTS) — was never meant to be constructed in an open sea, as it could not handle waves larger than four feet.
The pier was dismantled, fixed, reattached, shut down, then dismantled again, put back into place, and then dismantled.
The U.S. military attempted to reattach the pier to Gaza again earlier this week, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that the pier would be reattached to distribute the remaining aid and then permanently dismantled.
As far as total aid deliveries, it is not clear exactly how much actually made it to people in need.
Much of the aid has been stored in Cyprus or at distribution points in Gaza. After rumors that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) used the pier in a hostage rescue operation, humanitarian aid workers and organizations suspended their operations distributing the aid.
Sources also told Breitbart News that the pier was being targeted daily by gunfire and mortars. They also said troops were being given very little time to sleep, were working 12-hour to 48-hour shifts, getting injured daily, and, in some cases, not getting enough food.
One soldier was allegedly crushed by a forklift during night operations and was eventually transported back to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, in critical condition. There has been no update on his condition from the Pentagon.
The initial cost of the pier was $320 million, but the Pentagon later came back and said it cost only $230 million. A final cost estimate has not been released.
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