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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 329

    This complaint is from members of Islamic State against an Islamic State police officer who beats people, breaks into their...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 327

    This is a complaint regarding a man, his father, and his brother, who are doing things that reflect poorly on...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 326

    This is a complaint from one soldier against another soldier. The author of the complaint is displeased that his colleague...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 325

    This is a partial statement from a witness without many details.

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 324

    This is a document in which an individual is seeking to find his half-brother, who was last seen by his...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 323

    This complaint is by a police motorpool individual against the general police administrator. The complainant says the administrator gave him...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 322

    This document contains multiple complaints related to the same issue. The complaint is from an individual who states that he...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 321

    This complaint is from the owner of an auto body shop who claims he was mistreated by an Islamic State...

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