Exposing American soldiers and sailors to potential terrorist acts while asking them to hand American aid to Qatari-backed agents is astonishingly unwise.
President Biden, during his State of the Union address, announced an effort to create an aid corridor to Gaza that will include a U.S.–constructed pier for shipments of food and other supplies to reach Palestinians. This “temporary” construction would be a significant expansion of the Biden administration’s aid measures and no longer done at arm’s length, whatever promises of “no American boots on the ground” the president might make. As with all else, there are only tradeoffs. In this case, it’s almost all bad. The president’s design will create a locus of aid transfer that endangers American servicemen while failing to ensure the aid cannot be appropriated by Hamas.
The most recent efforts, air-dropping aid in collaboration with the Jordanian air force, resulted in a reported five Palestinian deaths (per Hamas-compromised Gaza Health Ministry) after a parachute failed to deploy correctly on one parcel. The pallet in question was not a U.S.-dropped aid parcel, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). The White House’s proposed pier solution would endanger American lives, almost certainly experience mission creep that turns temporary into tem-permanent, and, because of Biden’s promise of “no boots” would require a third party to handle dissemination of supplies — Qatar has volunteered to bankroll much of it.
Per CNN:
The temporary pier concept was developed in part by an organization called Fogbow, according to a person familiar with the planning, which is an advisory group comprised of former military, UN, and USAID and CIA personnel. The operation is being referred to internally as the Blue Beach Plan, the person familiar with the planning said.
Fogbow is run by former senior American military and intelligence officials. A Qatari official told CNN that they are investing $60 million into the maritime corridor initiative that Fogbow is expected to take an operational lead on, including by transporting the aid from the pier to the beach and handing it over for distribution.
“We are committed to supporting the maritime corridor which is planned by Fogbow,” the official said. “This public-private partnership will bring 200 truckloads of aid via barge from Cyprus to Gaza each day. Qatar has agreed to a significant financial contribution.”
This would be the Qatari government that, outside of its support of Iran, accommodates Hamas and shelters its leaders more than almost any other Middle Eastern country. Clifford Smith and others have written in the pages of National Review about the combination of cover provided to Hamas through state-owned Qatari media outlets like Al Jazeera and financial support ($30 million per month) of Hamas through bankrolling the salaries of Gazan civil servants who just happen to be involved with Hamas. Handing taxpayer-purchased goods to former CIA and U.N. types who are on the Qatari government’s payroll is something out of MBD’s most dysphoric dreams. Thankfully the U.N. has proved itself impervious to Hamas infiltration . . . nope, never mind, exactly the opposite happened and at scale. “Charlie Foxtrot” doesn’t even begin to cover it.
But what sort of temporary port will the U.S. build? The DOD announced on Friday that the Army’s Seventh Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary) will handle the operation, with the Navy’s Seabees likely supporting. The aid will be loaded in Cyprus and conveyed to shore using the military’s joint logistics over shore (JLOTS) system. Again, the DOD spokesman reiterated that the role doesn’t require “combat capability,” so U.S. Navy assets will not play a role.
Malcolm Nance, a former Navy counterterrorism intelligence expert (cryptologist) who spoke with NR in the past about WaPo‘s reporting failures regarding the Gaza hospital explosion on October 17, posted a frank summary to X of what Americans can expect to see in the coming weeks:
Construction battalions will build out a large floating dock . . . Most likely in the port of Ashdod Israel. Only if Israel supports the security guarantees will that dock be floated down to Gaza under protection of the Israeli Navy. Working closely with the
Engineers it will be attached to land at Port of Gaza or the beach south of Zikim. If you think this is not a US – Israel military project you are going to be very disappointed. But I will tell you one thing that absolutely will happen here. Hamas will attack that bridge at every chance and most likely try to destroy it and kill American sailors, who who are putting it in place.
For a multimedia explanation of the pier system, the War Zone has helpful information collected here.
The United States can do almost anything to which it sets its mind. But can and should are two separate matters. Biden is terrified of the pro-Palestinian elements in his party and, in his fear, is creating a situation whereby the U.S. taxpayers are almost certain to aid Hamas in its fight against our regional partner while having to watch U.S. men and women in uniform get left high and dry just off the coast of one of the most volatile few square miles in the world.