Taxpayers should already be familiar with the $230 million cost to build a Gazan pier for humanitarian assistance — which began falling apart almost immediately last year.
Now, a report from the Department of Defense’s inspector general has revealed the operation also injured 62 U.S. soldiers and caused at least $31 million in equipment damage.
The audit found that the Army and Navy “possessed the capability” to successfully set up temporary piers and use them to transfer cargo and humanitarian supplies. The mission failed because “the Army and Navy did not meet Service-level standards for equipment and unit readiness, nor did they organize, train, and equip their forces to meet common joint standards.”
The Army and Navy each have different kinds of boats and pier supplies that are not compatible with each other, but soldiers still attempted to use the supplies interchangeably. That caused damage to 27 pieces of Navy equipment, which were required to be repaired for $31 million. It’s possible there was further damage, but portions of the audit are redacted.
Details about the 62 injuries are also redacted, though the report notes that some may have happened off-duty from pre-existing medical issues.
The pier was supposed to stay in place for three months and deliver enough food to feed 1.5 million Palestinians. Instead, the pier was only in place for two months and was inoperable for most of that time while under repairs. The mission only delivered enough food for 450,000 people, according to a report last year from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The same report found that planners “did not fully identify or consider mission-specific requirements, such as beach conditions, average sea states, and other factors,” contributing to the mission’s failure to meet its goal.
Trucks holding food were also looted by Palestinians after the United Nations World Food Programme refused to let the Israeli Defense Forces provide security for USAID and UN humanitarian workers, according to the report.
If the U.S. is going to involve itself in foreign conflicts, it should at least do so with proper planning and expertise.
(The #WasteOfTheDay is from forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com via RealClearWire.)
