On February 24, 2001, Secretary of State Colin Powell remarked to Egyptian Foreign Minister Amre Houssa: “Sanctions exist–not for the purpose of hurting the Iraqi people, but for the purpose of keeping in check Saddam Hussein’s ambitions toward developing weapons of mass destruction. We should constantly be reviewing our policies, constantly be looking at those sanctions to make sure that they are directed toward that purpose. That purpose is every bit as important now as it was ten years ago when we began it. And frankly they have worked. He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors.”
– Joe Conason, “That Smoking Powell Video,” Salon.com, Sep. 26, 2003