I have been profoundly shaken by the terrorist attacks on the United States. Over and over again I imagine myself in one of the airliners or in the World Trade Center. Or I imagine having a loved one in one of the planes, or in the WTC, or at work at the Pentagon (one of my brothers lives in D.C.).

Students in my classes are confused, angry and frightened. I was frightened too; When planes began to land again at Hector I would stop and listen, just to make sure. For several nights after the attack, I felt vulnerable in my apartment; Who might come up the stairs? All our lives have changed. And the United States has changed, in ways that we may not now be able to imagine.

Now we must heal ourselves and the national psyche. We must morn with and provide for the families devastated by the attacks. We must rebuild New York and the Pentagon. We must reinvigorate our economy. And we must bring Osama bin Laden and his allies, if they were the perpetrators, to justice.

But bringing bin Laden to justice (if we proceed in the direction current sentiment is pointing) will be very difficult; it will be a prolonged and very expensive endeavor both in terms of dollars and more importantly, in terms of human loss, for both sides. War should be the last resort.

There is a better way, and though it would also be very expensive monetarily, it would be cheaper in the long run. And it would be constructive, rather than destructive, stabilizing rather than destabilizing.

Together with our allies, let�s use the money it will take to eliminate bin Laden and eradicate terrorism and let�s do this:

Let�s eradicate malaria in Rwanda; Let�s provide mosquito nets for children in Cambodia; Let�s give small-plot farmers in Peru the means and motivation to abandon coca for alternative cash crops; Let�s buy up-to-date school books for children in Bangladesh; Let�s build hospitals in Tanzania; Let�s supply antibiotics for clinics in Nepal; Let�s provide access to clean water for Pakistani peasants; Let�s provide opportunities for meaningful and self-supporting jobs for villagers in India so they needn�t send their children into sweatshops or brothels; Let�s inoculate children against cholera and typhoid in Angola; Let�s construct livable, dignified housing for refugees or the homeless in Gaza, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey and the many other places people must live without adequate housing due to war, famine, or natural disaster; Let�s provide catalytic converters to clean the air in Mexican cities; Let�s help small-scale coffee farmers in Kenya find alternative markets; Let�s make free HIV-AIDS medicine, care, and education readily available in Zaire.

We might even try some of this in, yes, Afghanistan.

Imagine how quickly bin Laden would be brought to justice if many of the root causes of terrorism � hopelessness, poverty, repression � were resolved. And imagine how many would-be terrorists, for generations to come, would never terrorize if this alternative was the way of our retribution, our healing, our hearts.

Snyder, Fargo, can be reached at [email protected]