Roggio and Joscelyn have essentially willed their way into becoming issue experts during a time of war. Reporting and analysis is their service to their country, chronicling the battlefront daily from their homes in the tri-state area. They are quoted in the international press, and Roggio is a regular guest on John Batchelor’s nationally syndicated radio show, where I first spoke to him on Tuesday night as he helped break the news that the newly captured Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad, is the son of a Pakistani air force general.

The Taliban’s attention to The Long War Journal is the ultimate backhanded compliment from an enemy in the Internet age—a testament to the site’s accuracy and understanding. Critics may charge that publishing information gained from the Taliban amounts to disseminating propaganda during wartime, but Roggio said he has wrestled with that ethical issue and found clarity. “I think the propaganda cuts both ways,” he said. “They might be getting to gloat and maybe benefit in terms of recruiting, but it really should serve another purpose from the U.S.’s perspective: The propaganda should be viewed as a reminder that these people really are our enemies and they really do want to kill us.”