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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 354

    This is a complaint from the owner of a car repair shop who claims that an Islamic State brother received...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 353

    This is a complaint from three soldiers who were turned away by a war spoils official even though they had...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 352

    This is a complaint from an individual across the street from a school who says that an Islamic State member...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 351

    This is a complaint from an individual who claims that he fought in battle for three months, but did not...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 350

    This is a complaint from a police officer who arrested individuals who were smoking, only to later be reprimanded by...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 349

    This is a complaint against an Islamic State dentist who make a woman uncomfortable with his questions and presence.

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 347

    This is a complaint from one police officer against another who allegedly threatened him.

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 346

    This complaint is from an individual who sold two cars to an Islamic State police officer, but has not received...

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