CTC Harmony Document magazine cover

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.

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

Title

Description

Reference Number

  • Caliphate Complaint Box 238

    The complaint is against the Real Estate bueau for selling the complainant’s home even though he owned it and has...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 237

    This is a judge’s denial of an appeal of his ruling to confiscate money and a car because it was...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 236

    This is a judicial order seizing property of someone who Islamic State claims became an apostate.

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 234

    This complaint is from a widow who received an eviction order because the house appeared to be listed in her...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 233

    This complaint is from a woman who said her home was seized by Islamic State because they alleged that her...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 232

    The complaint says that some Islamic State members from the real estate bureau came to the house, took possession of...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 231

    This files includes the complaint and other paperwork. It is from an individual who claims that they are being evicted...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 230

    The complainant is from individuals who stated that they owned a house, but that when they left to go work...

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