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 32

    This is an order transferring a complaint to another unit regarding some members of the real estate bureau who are...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 31

    This is an order transferring a complaint to another unit. The issue is that several families have complained about not...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 30

    This is an order transferring a complaint to another unit regarding an Indonesia soldier who is complaining that he would...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 29

    This complaint is addressed to the Delegated Committee and states that some Islamic State members in charge of fortifications came...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 28

    This is a complaint from an individual who says that he was hunting when men came from across the river,...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 27

    This is a complaint from an individual who sold a car to an Islamic State checkpoint emir, but still has...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 26

    This is a complaint from an individual who lost several items of military equipment that he left behind in the...

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  • Caliphate Complaint Box 25

    This complaint is from an individual who argues that he missed compensation after he went to support an ongoing battle.

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