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Harmony Program

The CTC launched the Harmony Program in 2005 in order to release and analyze documents from the Department of Defense’s Harmony database. The focus of this program is to contextualize the inner-functioning of al-Qa’ida, its associated movement, and other security threats through primary source documents. Harmony products released by the CTC are typically accompanied by an analytical report and the primary source material from which its conclusions are based. By releasing this material, the CTC aims to make these sources, which are captured in the course of operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other theaters, available to other scholars for further study.

While captured documents offer unique insight into the decision-making process of terrorist groups they are most valuable when contextualized with information drawn from other sources. Scholars and practitioners should be aware that analyzing such data is fraught with risk. Documents in the Harmony database were collected on the battlefield unscientifically. There is no way to know just how representative documents captured by U.S. forces are of the larger body of information produced by al‐Qa`ida or other insurgents. Likewise, the vast database in which they are stored is imperfect and virtually impossible to search systematically. Readers and researchers should therefore be wary of conclusions drawn from Harmony documents alone.

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Featured Documents

`Atiyah’s Letter to Zarqawi

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This is a letter from `Atiyah `Abd al-Rahman, mostly known as `Atiyatullah al-Libi, to Abu Mus`ab al-Zarqawi. The letter was...

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Zawahiri’s Letter to Zarqawi

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This is a critical letter from Ayman al-Zawahiri to Abu Mus`ab al-Zarqawi in which the author presents his strategy of...

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Letter from UBL to `Atiyatullah Al-Libi 4

SOCOM-2012-0000019

This document is a long letter authored by Usama bin Ladin after the death of Sheikh Sa'id (Mustafa Abu'l-Yazid) in...

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Lessons Learned from the Jihad Ordeal in Syria

AFGP-2002-600080

This is a lengthy document that examines the jihad waged by the Muslim Brotherhood against the Syrian regime of Hafiz...

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Title

Description

Reference Number

  • Caliphate Complaint Box 287

    This is a complaint from a current Islamic State member who claims that, prior to becoming a member, he was...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 286

    This is a complaint from a soldier who was transferred from one unit to the next and has not received...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 285

    This complaint is from an Islamic State soldier who sought reimbursement for medical expenses. However, when he submitted his paperwork...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 284

    This complaint is from an individual against the president of a medical school. In it, he claims that his application...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 283

    This complaint is from an Islamic State member who loaned his gun to someone for a battle. However, that individual...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 282

    The complaint refers to a fight that happened in prison. Apparently an individual who was an Islamic State police officer...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 281

    This is a partial complaint from a car owner who claims that his car was confiscated and he has had...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 280

    This is a partial complaint alleges that a member of the spoils department took a crane from a fighting unit...

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