Might Turn Out That POTATUS' Gonzo Gaza Pier Plan Was a Blessing in Disguise

excalibur · Apr 18, 2024

Another day, another Biden mess.

And people keep defending, or rather ignore the mess that is the Biden junta and deflect to ... Trump!

Wake up, Biden is a miserable and utter failure who has done untold harm to America on every level and in so many ways.

No, no, no - I haven't lost my cotton-pickin' mind. Hear me out on this one.

Let's recap what the plan was for those in the backseats.

POTATUS used the time he spent shrieking during what was billed as a "State of the Union" to drop the little bombshell that he was directing United States assets - read that as our military - to build a "floating pier" off of Gaza for humanitarian relief. That declaration was immediately followed by a blatant lie about "no US boots" would be "on the ground" as part of this evolution. Anyone with half a brain hearing this - which, in fairness, automatically excludes POTATUS - knew it was an impossibility to build such a thing WITHOUT "boots on the ground."

US forces will build a temporary dock on the Gaza shoreline to allow delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale, Joe Biden announced in his State of the Union speech, amid warnings of a widespread famine among the territory’s 2.3 million Palestinians.

...“Tonight, I’m directing the US military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier in the Mediterranean on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters,” the president said.

He promised “no US boots will be on the ground”, and said: “This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.”

Those same rational types also realized that it would put any American personnel on or offshore directly in harm's way, like rubber ducks in a carnival tub for the taking.

That was my main problem with potentially yet another administration-orchestrated snafu where only our military paid the price for their supreme incompetence and indifference to risk. I will admit to voicing boisterous and vociferous objections at every opportunity.

The same objections were raised in quarters where one didn't normally read such things, like the Washington Post. Concerns were raised repeatedly that this plan was too fundamentally unsound and deliberately cavalier with the military's safety. Abbey Gate will always remain fresh in so many minds.

What about ROE (Rules of Engagement)? Would our troops be allowed to defend themselves? So many questions, so little confidence in competent - or truthful - answers.

The Biden administration’s plan to install a floating pier off the Gaza coast as part of a broad international initiative to feed starving Palestinians will endanger the U.S. service members who must build, operate and defend the structure from attack, military experts say, a risk with enormous political consequences for the president should calamity strike.

...Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, Centcom’s top commander, also sought to reassure lawmakers in congressional hearings earlier in March. But “strong reservations” remain, said Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.), the Senate Armed Services Committee’s ranking Republican, and other GOP senators in a letter to Biden last week.

“We are gravely concerned,” they wrote to the White House, “that the Defense Department has given too little consideration to the likelihood that Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and other U.S.-designated terrorist organizations operating in Gaza would attempt to attack the U.S. personnel that will be deployed to this mission.”

...Jerry Hendrix, a retired naval officer and senior fellow at the Sagamore Institute, asserted that no matter what security is put in place, the causeway will be “highly vulnerable.” He called the plan “stupid.”

“There’s so much downside risk on this for what I think is relatively small upside in terms of potential to relieve the supply shortage and food shortage in the area,” Hendrix said, arguing that the delivery of more food over land routes is “the only method that brings a noticeable change to the Palestinian condition.”

...Kennedy, the retired Marine general, recalled the aftermath of a typhoon that hit the Philippines in 2013. As U.S. forces deployed there to assist, he was concerned that Abu Sayyaf, a militant group there, would launch attacks on the Americans.

U.S. forces were not allowed to bring weapons on the deployment, he said, so he asked the Philippine government to position snipers nearby and had U.S. Marines work alongside them as observers.

“You’ve been entrusted with the lives of fellow citizens, and the children of fellow citizens, so your first obligation is force protection,” Kennedy said. “You have to ensure that your troops are safeguarded.”

Each day that U.S. forces remain involved is a day that they could come under attack, he assessed.

“There’s a point of diminishing returns, right?” Kennedy said. “They need to build that thing as quickly as possible, turn it over to any competent civilian authority — and get the hell out of there.”

[b[Undaunted by any sense of concern, they set the plan in motion, and the specialized ships needed to perform this miracle at sea got underway.

As my good friend CDR Salamander explained in his post on this, the surprise to many was that it wasn't going to be a Navy operation at all.

This would be an Army show (great ship graphic at his link, too).[/b]

...Ships are already underway;

The U.S. Army has dispatched a ship to send humanitarian aid to Gaza, Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday, days after President Joe Biden vowed to build a temporary pier to supply the besieged enclave.

Click to expand...

The General Frank S. Besson left Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia "less than 36 hours after President Biden announced the U.S. would provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza by sea," CENTCOM said in a statement.

Click to expand...

It will take a few weeks to make the transit from Virginia to the eastern Mediterranean. The 37-year old Besson can’t even break 12-knots fully loaded.
…and yes my friends - the Army has its own navy. Let’s take a quick look at the Besson.
Yep’r, that 243 foot, 4,200 ton ship is commanded by … a Warrant Officer. Discuss amongst yourselves.

https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/bed7b2c0-00ee-4448-aaa6-4ff176541377_1354x1726.png

Salamander's worries over the plan's particulars were a mirror of my own, only, thanks to his extensive naval background, tempered with knowledge I had no inkling of. Namely, the condition of those aging vessels and some recent contractions pointing to trouble on the horizon for Biden's big beach plans.

...This will take about 1,000 personnel to accomplish. I don’t know a single maritime professional who thinks this is a good idea given the location and conditions ashore, but orders are orders. Make the best attempt you can.

An interesting note; this is not a Navy operation, but an Army operation. Remember what I told you about the fate of the East Coast Amphibious Construction Battalion TWO (ACB2) last summer? This story aligns well with the Anglosphere’s problem with seablindness we discussed on yesterday’s Midrats with James Smith.

The Navy's East Coast Amphibious Construction Battalion (you'd probably recognize them as SEABEES) Salamander references stood down on March 2. It's gone. There's only ACB1 left, and where?

The West Coast.

Starting to see a problem yet?

...