In this revealing article, Robert G. Rabil examines leaked Iraqi documents to expose how Saddam Hussein’s regime crafted a bureaucratic engine of oppression—rewarding collaborators and punishing dissenters through procedural violence. He demonstrates how the state weaponized education, security institutions, and tribal loyalties to atomize civil society and convert individuals into either informants or executioners. The result was a meticulously controlled system that blurred the line between victim and oppressor across ethnic and sectarian divisions. Rabil’s work offers a vital historical case study of how authoritarian regimes operationalize repression through institutional design.