Terror funds, part deux

If we're going to talk about the federal funds disbursed to fight terror in the US, we should also take a look at that weird, underground world of payments for terror tips. Rewards for Justice (motto: We can give you 5 million reasons to stop terrorism), administered by the State Department for the last two decades, claims to have shelled out more than $62 million over the years for information that has prevented attacks or brought perps to justice.

Two Filipino informants just walked away with a total of $500,000 yesterday for providing information that led to the October arrest of Ahmad Santos, head of a group of Islamic converts who were allegedly behind a 2004 ferry bombing that killed more than 100 in the Philippines. Investigators also believe the group forged links with Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah.

Apparently, when these things are done, the US embassy still goes for the old cash-in-a-suitcase-at-a-press-conference method:

ROMEO GACAD/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

And here's the handoff: 

ROMEO GACAD/AFP/GETTY IMAGES