That is why this is a contentious issue for people. The regime had all the formal decision making structures of a modern state, yet they had zero role in directing national strategic policy. Saddam consulted with very few people on most matters, preferring to rule by fiat. Sure Aziz would have been in the room for the majority of these discussions, but like everyone else in the room, he would have had no real input into whatever they were discussing.
This is a real problem of mirror imaging. In most democracies the deputy PM would most certainly be accountable for government decisions. But how can you hold someone to account when they are only guilty of being in the room when Saddam made a decision on something?
Saddam enjoyed jailing his most trusted lieutenants for periods of time - mostly for minor indiscretions - as he felt it kept them honest. If someone was deemed to be "unpatriotic" as his son-in-law Hussein Kamel was, well we all know what happened to him. I guess if this is the decision of the Iraqi kangaroo court, Aziz's death warrant was signed the minute he was made Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq.
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