Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Wednesday that the debacle that became the U.S.-built pier in Gaza "came down to politics" because the Biden administration was trying to appease both sides of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Earlier on Wednesday it was announced that the United States was dismantling the $312 million pier built to help move humanitarian aid into Gaza. The pier did not live up to expectations as it was under almost constant repair and only had 23 days of total use. Rough seas hampered much of the operation since it was first anchored on May 17.
Mast said that he "rolls his eyes" at the project "more than anybody" saying that the motivation behind the pier’s construction had more to do with appeasement than it did with a practical function.
"The Biden administration wanted to show that they were doing something for Gaza, our non-ally, at the same time that we were supporting our ally Israel," he said during an appearance on "The Record with Greta Van Susteren."
Mast noted that the Biden administration should have been negotiating with our ally Egypt to make the far easier route into Gaza, rather than the treacherous and now defunct pier concept.
"How was this administration not able to open up access to Egypt prior to building this pier, if they had to build this, and it was so critical, so necessary that they do that, are they building a new one right now or was it not necessary at all? So why did they do it in the first place?"
According to U.S. Central Command, the pier served to deliver more than $20 million of aid to Gaza.
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James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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