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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 82

    This complaint is from a man whose brother deserted Islamic State, leaving his weapon. Security personnel came and questioned him...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 81

    This is a partial interview transcript. It describes a complaint in which someone is mad at a judge for yelling...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 80

    This complaint is authored on behalf of the “brothers in the judicial police.” They claim that the leader/judge over the...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 79

    The complaint is from a woman who owns a home. Her son used to live with her, but then fled...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 78

    This complaint states it is from a homeowner who has a neighbor in the Hisbah. The son of the Hisbah...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 77

    This is a request from someone who previously filed a complaint requesting that it be canceled.

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 76

    This is a response to a complaint in which it seems that the police tried to resolve a situation, but...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 75

    This complaint is from a man who says that the Hisbah chased a boy who hadn’t come to prayer into...

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