Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-Saks) is pushing the Biden Administration to abandon its Gaza Pier operation.
In a recent letter to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken the Congressman from Saks requested that th administration promptly find a more viable way to provide aid for Gaza.
“Three and a half months since the President’s announcement of a maritime corridor for Gaza and at least $230 million wasted, the operation has been riddled with setbacks, sidelined more often than operational, and can only be classified as a gross waste of taxpayer dollars,” wrote Rogers.
“I urge the Administration to immediately cease this failed operation before further catastrophe occurs and consider alternative means of land and air-based humanitarian aid delivery.”
Rogers also took to X to issue further condemnation of the Joint Logistics Over the Shore (JLOTS) operation.
This pier was a fool’s errand to begin with. Hardly any humanitarian aid has even been delivered through it. It is a gross waste of taxpayer dollars and should be shut down immediately. https://t.co/lt9fYh2oRH
— Mike Rogers (@RepMikeRogersAL) June 27, 2024
According to Rogers, during the first three weeks of the operation began, JLOTS moved about 10 trucks per day from the pier into Gaza, a small fraction of the estimated 150 truck per day capacity for the operation. As of June 19, JLOTS had only been operational about 10 days and had only moved 3,415 metric tons onto the beach in Gaza.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten