Live Chat Wed. 12:30 ET: Life and Death Behind Syria’s Front Lines

You’ve seen the stark images of war in Syria. But what’s life — and death — really like behind the lines?

Who are the rebels fighting to overthrow Assad? Who are the troops fighting to keep him in power? And why do they believe they need to kill each other?

FRONTLINE correspondent Olly Lambert spent five weeks on both sides of the war to answer those questions in Syria Behind the Lines, gaining unprecedented access to the everyday lives of rebels, government soldiers and the civilians who support them.

He had close calls with death throughout his journey. An air strike ripped through a building just down the street from where he was filming — and he ran to document the aftermath.

How did Olly survive? What were the risks? How did he earn the trust of the people he filmed? Is there an end in sight for their struggle? And what are the implications of this protracted war for the region and the fledgling Arab Spring?

We’ve asked Olly Lambert to join us to take these questions — and answer yours.

We’ll also be joined by two leading reporters covering the war: Syria Deeply co-founder Lara Setrakian and TIME foreign correspondent Rania Abouzeid.

We’d like to thank Syria Deeply and TIME for partnering with us on this chat.

You can leave a question in the chat window below, and come by at 12:30 p.m. ET on Wed., April 10 to join the live discussion.