More often than not when criminal activity is involved, the first advice that investigators get is “follow the money.” That would seem to be good advice in the war by America and other nations against terrorists. The latter need funding to carry out their schemes and when that supply dwindles, so do their nefarious pursuits.

It is often pointed out how criminals, such as insurgents in Iraq, put their adversaries at a disadvantage because they carry out their assaults “on the cheap.” That applies to life as well as to equipment and transportation. The most appalling thing to many observers is how terrorists so lightly regard human life and work so hard to find suicidal people to carry out their killing sprees.

While the lines of Islamic volunteers who want to die for the cause may be long, even endless, they still must have the “tools” to ply their deadly trade. When terror groups lose funding for weapons and supplies, they also lose ground in their assault.

Often anti-terrorism officials have to be guarded in how much information they release, for obvious reasons, but now and then the law-abiding sectors are cheered by news like that from Munich, Germany, this week. German police carried out a series of raids in several regions against individuals suspected of providing financial support for Islamic extremist activities.

The suspects were largely of Arab origin — including Lebanese, Iraqi, Egyptian, Jordanian and Tunisian nationals and one Greek. A police statement said “they are suspected of financially supporting radical Islamic activities abroad by collecting donations and procuring further money.”

Making arrests of known terrorists or killing them in conflict is important in this widening war in which the United States is the focal point. But finding ways to cut off funding of such people is also terribly important. It is good to see that other nations such as Germany have begun to recognize the problem and are working to curb it.

U.S. efforts have been heightened to weaken the funding for such terrorist operations and, while it might not make immediate impact, it can pay dividends down the line.

When high crimes are involved, following the money and cutting off the supply is always good advice.