TERRORISTS AND INFORMANTS:

The use of rewards in the war on terror has not worked as well as was expected, largely because of the difficulty in getting the word out, and fear of retaliation against potential informants. This has always been a problem with offering rewards for information. . . . But the new program hopes to be the start of a much larger informant effort. Many of the American reserve troops in Iraq have been policemen, including some detectives. They have made it clear to the American intelligence officers that, without lots of “CIs” (Confidential Informants), you’ll never be able to shut down the terrorists, much less the more troublesome (to the average Iraqi) criminal gangs. That message got through, and the number of casual (one time) informants is increasing daily.

That sounds encouraging.

UPDATE: This paid-informant story, from a Georgia high school, is somewhat less so.