President George W. Bush had this to say about the Iraqi Sanctions, in a joint press conference with Prime Minister Blair: “We spent a lot of time talking about our mutual interests in Iraq and the Persian Gulf, and from our perspective, as you know, I made the famous statement that our sanctions are like Swiss cheese. That means they’re not very effective. And we’re going to work together to figure out a way to make them more effective. But I think the Prime Minister and I both recognize that it is going to be important for us to build a consensus in the region to make the sanctions more effective. Colin Powell left today, after lunch, to move around the Middle East, collect thoughts and to listen, with a policy of strengthening our mission to make it clear to Saddam Hussein that he shall not terrorize his neighbors, and not develop weapons of mass destruction.”
– Transcript, “Remarks by the President and Prime Minister Blair in Joint Press Conference,” George W. Bush – White House Archives online, Accessed on 6/17/2016