Since Operation Enduring Freedom commenced two months ago with the first wave of bombings in Afghanistan, the Bush Administration and the rest of our federal government has succeeded in combating terrorism in a number of respects.

We have successfully eliminated a number of Osama bin Laden's top-level al-Qiada officials. We are at the brink of removing the Taliban from power at every city in Afghanistan. Beyond our obvious military successes in the last two months, we have unified the world in a fight against the evil forces of the al-Qiada and the institution of terrorism around the globe.

Americans are starting to get back to their normal, pre-Sept. 11 lives. At the risk of sounding a bit dramatic (as I sometimes do), Osama bin Laden has failed to force Americans to live in fear.

But while we must not live in fear, we must also not let down our guards. There is no reason to be naïve, the war against the institution of terrorism is a war that cannot be won. Terrorism has been around since the Crusades, and we cannot eliminate terrorism simply by eliminating Osama bin Laden and the al-Qiada.

Terrorists of all kinds are enemies who will inevitably reproduce themselves. That isn't to say that we are defenseless against terrorism. Measures must be taken to defend ourselves from terrorism beyond our military's ongoing mission in Afghanistan.

The threat of biochemical terrorism, as evidenced by the recent anthrax deaths in Florida, New York, and Connecticut, is very real.

By the president's own admission, the authorities have very little to go on as they look for the anthrax source.

Regardless of how the fight against the biochemical terrorists is won or lost, the United States must adopt an approach to fighting this kind of terrorism in the future. We must have accessible vaccinations and antibiotics for anthrax, small pox, and any other virulence threatening Americans. This effort must cover the entire country, particularly at what can be considered highly susceptible terrorist targets.

The United States and all of the world's economic powers must work to expand the global economy and free trade to developing countries such as the one whose government we are at war with now.

The inequalities between our prosperous society and the war-torn land of Afghanistan only foster hatred that boiled over on Sept. 11. Please don't misconstrue what I'm saying as some kind of a plea for understanding of the brutal attacks of Sept. 11, but these apparent economic inequalities between the western and Muslim worlds need to be addressed.

The American people must learn to accept diplomatic nation building efforts on the part of the federal government. Since the beginning of the Union, the American people have always adopted the philosophy of addressing domestic problems before even opening the book on global issues.

What must be understood is that as a result of globalization, our domestic interests span well beyond our borders. We must not leave the undeveloped world at the side of the road as the global powers move forward in this new age of prosperity.

My final proposal for combating terrorism in the wake of Sept. 11 may seem a bit extreme and even ridiculous. I believe that it is time for the federal government to look into the possibility of decentralization. There is no more vulnerable terrorist target than Washington, D.C., and that doesn't have to be the case.

Within six blocks, we have the near 500 most powerful men and women in our federal government. The White House, the Capitol Building, and the Supreme Court all lie within miles of one another. All of the federal bureaucracies also are based inside the Washington, D.C., beltway.

In the event of a nuclear attack, there would obviously be no more prime target than our nation's capital. Such an event would cripple the nation.

There is no reason to leave us at all susceptible to such a disaster. With video conferencing and advanced telecommunications, federal officials in all branches of government could easily operate outside of Washington.

If our federal government believes that we are at all at risk of a nuclear attack, maybe it's time to explore the possibility of decentralizing our federal government. The Bush Administration's proposal for abandoning the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and developing a missile defense shield would seem to indicate that fears exist (at least at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue) of such a nuclear attack.

A fight against terrorism can only be fought by protecting ourselves and respecting others. Our forces are fighting a winning fight, but we must finish the job with measures that don't require American bloodshed. While we must not let the threat of terrorism affect our everyday lives, we cannot ignore the threat to our civility that presented itself on Sept. 11.