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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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Filter Harmony Documents

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Title

Description

Reference Number

  • Caliphate Complaint Box 271

    This is not a complaint, but a handwritten note which appears to identify where complaints are supposed to go contingent...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 270

    This is an incomplete complaint form with no substantive information.

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 269

    This is a complaint against an Islamic State soldier who took things from a butcher without paying.

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 268

    This complaint is being filed by a person who says a police raid against his brother happened because he (the...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 267

    This is a complaint from a man who claims his son was killed in a car accident. He wants the...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 266

    This complaint is against a checkpoint operator who took the complainant’s guns and then wouldn’t give them back. There is...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 265

    This is a complaint against an Islamic State member who stole a TV when his unit was disbanded, then returned...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 264

    This is a complaint against an Islamic State member who beat someone because they smelled like smoke. This individual claims...

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