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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 90

    This is an administrative document with recommendations about how to handle a specific complaint regarding real estate.

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 89

    This is a fragment of a larger complaint which suggests that a woman was married to a man who worked...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 88

    This is a request for a meeting or interview to complain about the behavior of the Hisbah and/or Islamic Police.

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 87

    This is a report on how the public services office responded to a complaint that appears to have been filed...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 86

    This complaint is from a woman who says that they have been asking the real estate office for a house...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 85

    This complaint is only a partial document, but it suggests that some individuals had bad interactions with Islamic State police,...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 84

    This is a complaint from a store owner against an individual who came in and argued with him about the...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 83

    This is a follow-up note to a previous complaint which appears to be from a woman who was not receiving...

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