DAY 44 - MAY 3, 2011

For the past week Assad's government has besieged the city of Daraa, escalating the violent substantially. Thousands of Syrian soldiers have stormed the city along with tanks and heavy artillery. Snipers have been using live ammunition against civilians and protesters alike. Water, electricity, and phone lines have been cut and Syria's border with Jordan, along which Daraa is located, has been closed indefinitely.

In Misrata the NATO bombings have greatly intensified. There have been MQ-9 Reaper (drone) strikes carried out almost daily. Gaddafi's air defenses can't combat the air superiority of the international community. Your fixer Hassan says that if you don't leave it is just a matter of time before a stray missile hits your building. However, you and the two other journalists, Michael and Jeremy, have been getting unprecedented footage from your location in the city. It's hard to weigh the risks versus the rewards. You send it to a vote between the four of you. Michael, your senior and veteran of the group, believes you should stay, that the loyalist forces can't keep this up for much longer, that the onslaught is simply too great. He says he wants to be the first one into Tripoli. Jeremy on the other hand, also an experienced war photographer, cautions you against this. He knows that the situation in Libya is incredibly volatile and he doesn't want to end up like Tim Hetherington. He would have said the same to him if he was here. Jeremy says he has more work ahead of him, that it's suicide to stay.