Israel Responds to Lebanese Cease-Fire Plan
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Israel responding to a Lebanese cease-fire plan to send 15,000 Lebanese soldiers to the border. Israeli Prime Minister Olmert calling it "interesting." CNN's John Vause live for us in Jerusalem. "Interesting" is sort of an interesting way to respond so that proposal, John.</s>JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very much so, Soledad. On the surface, it would seem that this proposal coming out of Beirut is everything the Israelis have been asking for, that the Lebanese government finally exercised full control over the south of their country for the first time since 1982. But the reality is, the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is less than enthusiastic. And the reason for that, sources in Jerusalem say there are serious doubts over the Lebanese army's ability to exercise any real control, their ability to disarm Hezbollah, their ability to stop the rocket fire coming from those Hezbollah positions in the southern part of Lebanon, and also these sources point out that this decision taken by the Lebanese cabinet had the full support of the two Hezbollah cabinet ministers, and for the Israelis that raise a number of red flags as well. They're concerned this will effectively be just a propaganda exercise. And one indication that the Israelis are not seeing a great deal of promise in this proposal, tomorrow the Israeli cabinet will take another vote on escalating this conflict even further. And also the residents in the north of Israel, the government has decided it's time to give them some R&R.; They'll be bussed out of the northern country. They'll spend a few days in hotels. They're also spend a few days on camping trips, especially those in the town of Kiryat Shmona, who spent a lot of their time, 28 days now in bomb shelters. That one town there up on the border, very close to Lebanon, is now known as the Katyusha capital of Israel -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: Not exactly how you want to be known, as you well know. There is some new videotape that's been released by the Israeli army, and it shows a Hezbollah drone being shot down. I find it kind of hard to make it out. But can you tell us as we roll the tape, can you tell us what we're looking at -- John.</s>VAUSE: Well, the drone was flying over the northern part of Israel yesterday. It was picked up by radar. Fighter jets scrambled and it was effectively shot down and landed in the ocean, not far from the city of Arco, about 10 miles off the coast. Hezbollah had launched two unmanned aerial drones in the past, both times undetected by the Israeli military, caused a great deal of concern. Now this drone, according to Israeli military sources, was in fact Iranian made. They say it did not have a great military capability. It was fairly small. The wingspan just a few feet wide. If it did carry a warhead, which they doubt a small amount of explosives. What they're saying this is that is just another demonstration by Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, of the surprises that Hezbollah had in store for Israel, and in fact just a demonstration of Hezbollah's military capability. So effectively not targeting or threatening Israeli towns, but more of a propaganda exercise, if you like, on the behalf of Hezbollah -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: John Vause in Jerusalem for us this morning. John, thanks. I want to get a rare glimpse now into the front lines. Our senior national correspondent John Roberts is embedded with Israeli troops on the border with Lebanon. John's reporter's notebook now. Take a look.</s>JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Under cover of night an elite army reserve unit prepares to strike out across the border. Their faces painted black, briefed on the battle plan, they put boots on the ground. Destination? A hot zone, some seven miles inside southern Lebanon. (</s>On camera): We've been walking for a couple of miles now. We stopped to drink a little bit of water. The going has been hard. Up one hill, down another. Very, very dusty. But it's an amazingly clear night here in south Lebanon. The moon was up a little while ago. Now the moon is down. It's much darker than it was before. It's just a sky full of stars. Somewhat at odds with the action on the ground, this peaceful night. (</s>Voice-over): Before daybreak, the unit enters an abandoned house near the Lebanese town of Rajamin, their base of operations for the next 24 hours. Richard, last name withheld, is one of the senior officers.</s>RICHARD: We're using all the forces available to us. Army, tanks and our air force, to fight these fundamentalist terrorists.</s>ROBERTS: The mission is to identify and suppress possible Hezbollah positions. They scout the hills with powerful binoculars, and cameras that can bring far-off villagers into sharp focus, then dispatch patrols to probe nearby ground and buildings. Obey (ph) is the fire control officer. He doesn't like this terrain. Hezbollah guerrillas, he says, could hide there. So he calls in artillery. Within moments the hill is ablaze with incoming fire and smoke. The company is under constant threat from Hezbollah missiles and snipers. So the unit's own sharp-shooters keep a hair trigger alert. (</s>On camera): Moments ago some intelligence came in that this location may be targeted by Hezbollah. We heard the tanks start opening fire a couple of seconds ago, and now these soldiers have taken a very aggressive defensive posture. (</s>Voice-over): Commanders evacuate another platoon from the building next door. Not long after, mortars hit close by. The stress of battle weighs on these civilian soldiers. Oded Norman (ph) is an attorney by trade. Tomer Cohen. He was to have graduated acting school on this day. Instead, he is in the theater of war.</s>TOMER COHEN, ISRAELI SOLDIER: Lebanon is a cursed country for us.</s>ROBERTS: Conditions here are extreme. Everyone succumbs to exhaustion. And the mission to route Hezbollah fighters is frustrating. A volley of Katyushas that fly right overhead is proof of that. The Nedad (ph) is the major in command of the platoon that we're embedded with.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're not to be underestimated.</s>ROBERTS: The soldiers move constantly. Staying too long in one place invites attacks. They find a new position and fire rockets into the building to make sure it's clear. As diplomacy moves forward, the mission to degrade Hezbollah's potency becomes more urgent. There is little faith among these soldiers that an expanded U.N. force can provide a barrier to the attacks and they fear they may be in Lebanon for a long time to come.</s>CAPTAIN RICHARD, ISRAELI SOLDIER: The reality is that the only force that Israel can rely on to protect the citizens of Israel is the Israel Defense Forces. There's not been a great track record of other people protecting the Jewish people and the people of Israel.</s>ROBERTS (on camera): We're pulling back to Israel after two days in the field. And after spending 48 hours with this unit we get a greater appreciation for just how difficult this battle really is. It would appear that in this conflict, neither side will be able to claim victory in the classic sense of military versus military, state versus state. The overarching question in the Middle East -- can there ever be peace? John Roberts, CNN, deep inside Southern Lebanon.</s>O'BRIEN: That is the big question, isn't it?</s>TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Well, the price tag, talking about questions, for that oil pipeline shutdown could be costing Alaska more than $6 million a day, and the bad news doesn't end there. Oil company BP is now saying it could be months before the pipeline is back in business. Nearly all of the 22 miles of the Prudhoe Bay pipeline is dangerously corroded. That means trouble for more than just BP. They operate the oil field for other oil companies, such as ExxonMobil and Chevron. So at a time we're hoping that gas prices will drop, the news out of Alaska doesn't spell relief for your wallet. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho joins me now. What do we do? Do we just brace ourselves for what's to come here?</s>ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More bad news, I think, sadly, Tony. You know, that bad news you were just talking about continues at the gas pump. By some estimates, prices at the pump have started to go up five cents a gallon in some cities, and they could go up another five cents in the coming days.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I put almost $75 in this car just this week -- $75.</s>CHO: And don't expect relief from the gas pains any time soon. BP is shutting down its Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska. It found corrosion so severe it's replacing 16 miles of pipeline. That means 400,000 fewer barrels of oil being pumped each day, an 8 percent drop in U.S. production, some 2.5 percent of the total U.S. oil supply.</s>BOB MALONE, CHAIRMAN/PRES., BP ALASKA: On behalf of the BP group, I apologize for the impact this has had on our nation and to the great state of Alaska. BP will commit the necessary human and financial resources to complete this job safely, and as quickly as possible.</s>CHO: The West Coast will take the biggest hit. Some 25 percent of its oil comes from Alaska.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think how long will it take of increasing the prices.</s>CHO: Just how long will it take to bring the nation's biggest oil field back online? Weeks? Months?</s>MALONE: We will not commit to a date. This is going to be based upon when we can safely restart some of these lines.</s>CHO: BP is under investigation for a massive oil spill at Prudhoe Bay back in March, and for an explosion and fire at a Texas refinery last year which killed 15 people. As for the 16 miles of corroded pipeline discovered at Prudhoe Bay, federal regulators say it hadn't been cleaned and tested properly since 1992.</s>AXEL BUSCH, ENERGY ANALYST: It is damaging, not the least because it's part of a series of incidents. It's not a standalone. Standalone accidents will happen. When you have a number of them, people start asking questions.</s>CHO: And government regulators are said to be overseeing the shutdown of the Prudhoe Bay oil field, which could take anywhere from three to five days. Now as for how much of an impact it will have on gas prices. The next Lundberg Survey, which is the most reliable gauge, will be out on Sunday. But, Tony, safe to say that we are inching closer to that $3.06 record set just after Hurricane Katrina. The average right now about $3.03, but that's the national average.</s>HARRIS: And in different parts of the country you will pay more or less, depending on where you are. What are you paying here?</s>CHO: Well it depends. I happen to pay about $3.53 a gallon a couple of days ago, so it's a lot higher in places like New York.</s>HARRIS: That's outrageous. Alina, thanks.</s>CHO: Sure.</s>O'BRIEN: Coming up, is Lebanon going to agree to a cease-fire with Israeli troops still in the country? We'll check in with the Arab League's ambassador to the U.N. just ahead this morning.</s>HARRIS: And next, how much is stress affecting U.S. troops in Iraq? We'll take a closer look ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.