Biden Gaza pier fiasco left 62 US forces injured, one dead and caused $31M in damages: report

WASHINGTON — Former President Joe Biden’s failed floating Gaza pier plan left 62 US personnel injured, one service member dead and caused at least $31 million in damage to military equipment, according to a scathing Pentagon watchdog report that found the Army and Navy failed to properly plan, train for, prepare for and coordinate the mission.The project, which Biden announced during his 2024 State of the Union address amid mounting protests on the left over Israel’s war against Hamas, sought to deliver humanitarian aid to the terrorist-controlled enclave — but ultimately was functional for just 20 days before being abandoned.The Defense Department Office of Inspector General (DoD OIG) report, released late Tuesday, found that the military services were not adequately prepped for the mission — dubbed Operation Neptune Solace — but the project moved ahead despite the Army and Navy facing “low equipment mission-capable rates and low manning and training levels.”“The Army and Navy did not allocate sufficient maintenance, manning, [or] training,” according to the report, which also found that the services “did not organize, train, and equip to a common joint standard” for the so-called “joint logistics over-the-shore” (JLOTS) operation.The disjointed nature of the effort contributed to 27 watercraft and other paraphernalia suffering damage costing $31 million to repair, the report found, as “Army- and Navy-specific equipment, including watercraft, piers, and causeways, as well as command, control, and communications systems was not interoperable.”This week’s report follows a similar review by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of the Inspector General from August 2024 — which found Biden charged ahead with the $230 million pier despite the urgings of multiple federal aid workers.Army officials interviewed by the DoD OIG noted that “the lack of interoperability created challenges during (the Gaza operation)...