“Never forget” is the oft-repeated refrain used when talking about the 9/11 attacks. Yet, it often seems an empty phrase brought out yearly for memorial services and invoked by politicians seeking to justify the latest round of new counter-terrorism efforts. Despite the phrase perhaps being overused, the attacks themselves should never be forgotten as they marked a key turning point in modern history and would, arguably, lead to the birth of a much more dangerous enemy in the form of ISIS. [...]
ISIS has since gone on to inspire nearly half a dozen attacks, beyond the borders of Iraq and Syria, in both Europe and the Middle East. It is arguable that had 9/11 never happened, then the specific circumstances which led to the formation of AQI would never have occurred, and ISIS would now not exist. Thus, we should never forget 9/11, partly to remember and honour the victims but also as a reminder that responding to terrorism with force can have far-reaching effects which are hard to predict. Fortunately, we are unlikely to see a spectacular attack like 9/11 carried out again, as ISIS appears to be focused on retaining the land it controls in Iraq and Syria. However, ISIS is more dangerous because of its ability to inspire those with little or no history of extremist violence to carry out low-level attacks, such as Charlie Hebdo, Bataclan and Nice. The legacy of 9/11 is not just memorials to those who died but is an on-going struggle to detect, disrupt and neutralise plots inspired by ISIS.
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