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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 106

    This complaint is from a woman whose father died 15 years ago, then her brother died in a raid on...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 105

    This complaint is from an individual who was arrested while trying to leave Islamic State territory. All of his personal...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 104

    This is a complaint from a female doctor. She was pregnant, but the medical emir denied her leave and told...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 103

    This is a memo sending a complaint to a particular office for follow-up.

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 102

    This complaint is from a man to the wali regarding not wanting to work overnight. The man says that he...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 101

    This complaint is a partial document about a woman whose husband seems to have been married once before. The husband...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 100

    This complaint is from a woman whose husband was arrested by security forces and then brought back to his home...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 99

    This document is a partial complaint from a woman whose husband died. She was asked to leave the home of...

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