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 131

    This is a complaint document from a property owner claiming that the Syrian government took land that rightfully belonged to...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 130

    This is a complaint document from a preacher who was abused and insulted by some people to whom he was...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 129

    This is a partial complaint document in which it seems that the author is claiming that the local IS real...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 128

    This complaint document is from a woman who states that she was owed an inheritance, but that her brother didn’t...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 127

    This document is from an indiviudal helping her sister obtain compensation for her deceased husband who was killed in a...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 126

    This is a complaint document in which an individual is seeking compensation that they believe they are owed.

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 125

    This is a complaint document from an individual who was working in a non-military job, but was assigned by random...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 124

    This document is a response from a police station to the local governer regarding a complaint. The substance is not...

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