A nation's foreign policy is the result of decades of work aimed at responding to a nation's needs, both international and domestic, in the most optimal way possible. As a result, a nation's foreign policy is rarely changed in a single day. September 11, however, changed the direction and motivation of U.S. foreign policy in a matter of minutes. With the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans, the collapse of the World Trade Center, and the complete shutdown of the nation's air traffic control system, terrorism has become the number one priority in U.S. foreign policy. While foreign policy issues that existed before 9/11 are still being resolved, seemingly everything has taken a back seat in our new war on terrorism. Currently, the war on terrorism is being fought on several fronts. Abroad we are dealing with the consequences of war in both Afghanistan and Iraq; we are still hunting Osama-bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. We are also once again desperately trying to facilitate peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine, in the hope that such efforts will curb terrorism, both in the Middle East and around the world. At home, efforts are underway to make our country safer through stricter security measures. Since 9/11, President Bush has dramatically changed the way the United States deals with other nations, both allies and enemies. Currently, our nation is working under a preventive foreign policy. The purpose of this new policy is to prevent an attack on our nation by any means necessary. This controversial policy was exercised through President Bush's pre-emptive strikes in the war with Iraq. In keeping with our aggressive policy shift, U.S. military spending has risen above the $288.8 billion spent in 2000. Total defense spending for 2003 is $391.6 billion, representing 51.6 % of discretionary budget. Requests for military spending in 2004 further increase to 399.1 billion. Figures like these have been a source of strong criticism for the President. Liberals especially highlight the growing costs of the war on terrorism and ongoing operations in Iraq.