Biden's Gaza Pier Plan Puts US Troops in 'Harm's Way'

President Joe Biden's State of the Union vow to build a humanitarian pier for Gaza had good intentions perhaps, but it effectively makes American troops targets for terrorist attacks in the unstable region, experts continue to warn.

While a humanitarian pier is a "worthy goal," according to retired Marine Corps Gen. Paul Kennedy, it puts Gaza aid over the security of American forces and subjects Biden's Pentagon and White House to scrutiny.

"If a bomb went off in that location, the American public will ask, What the hell were they doing there in the first place?" Kennedy told The Washington Post.

Biden announced the plans to build a pier on the sea side of the Gaza Strip, while claiming he is not putting American troops into the Israel war on Hamas. The problem with that vow, with that claim, is building a humanitarian pier will require the U.S. military, putting American troops in the region, critics noted before and after Biden's State of the Union.

Not only is Biden misguided on building a pier with American troops, but he is effectively announcing the plans that will make those troops a high-profile target for terrorists in the region, particularly Hamas and Hezbollah, experts told the Post.

"We know that such missions are never risk-free," White House National Security Council John Kirby admitted to the Post, redirecting Biden's no troops claim despite continuing to claim it. "That's particularly so in a war zone like Gaza. There will not be U.S. troops on the ground, and we know our military leaders will make every effort to ensure their safety as they build and operate this pier."

When pressed by the Post on details for where the pier will be located, Pentagon declined to give specifics, citing concerns about telegraphing military troop movements to make them potential targets.

Troops' safety is "at the top of the list anytime we put our forces any place in harm's way," White House Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. was forced to admit last week.

Republican senators called out the Biden administration for their "strong reservations" about the pier construction plan in a letter to Biden last week, signed by Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and other GOP senators.

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

Pentagon officials declined the Post's request for comment.