In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on March 22, 2001, Central Command leader General Tommy R. Franks said: ” ‘Enforcement of the NFZ [No-Fly Zone] will remain dangerous but necessary business as long as the Iraqi regime continues to threaten its neighbors and its own people. Similarly, our naval forces maintain continuous presence in the Persian Gulf, and have intercepted 610 ships in the past year in support of MIO [Maritime Interception Operations], enforcing U.N. sanctions designed to limit Saddam Hussein’s ability to smuggle oil out of Iraq. Iraqi oil smuggling provides uncontrolled revenues, which could be used to reconstitute his weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and rebuild his conventional forces. Sixty-five of these ships have been diverted to Gulf coalition partners where contraband oil has been confiscated and sold. Again, necessary but dangerous business.’ “
– General Tommy Franks, Prepared Statement to Senate Armed Services Committee, March 22, 2001