By saying the effects of the troop escalation have not led to a healthier political environment, the candidates are tacitly acknowledging that the additional troops have, in fact, made a difference on the ground — a viewpoint many Democratic voters might not embrace.
To study the full effects of the troop increase at ground level, reporters for The New York Times repeatedly visited at least 20 neighborhoods in Baghdad and its surrounding belts, interviewing more than 150 residents, in addition to members of sectarian militias, Americans patrolling the city and Iraqi officials.
Mr. Kerik's effect on the troops was less clear.
And he is leaving earlier than planned, in the middle of the summer fighting season and before any lasting effects of the so-called troop surge are clear.
American diplomats and military officers were distraught about the effect of this troop transfer on their war effort in Afghanistan, but, when they met with Musharraf and his senior generals, "there was nothing we could say to them that would sound persuasive," Colonel Smith told me.
Early setbacks may have spurred on the Nigerian generals who, unlike western leaders, do not have to worry about the political effects of their troops coming home in body-bags.
The study of the mixed-species troops of tamarins showed that neither the color-vision types (dichromatic or trichromatic) nor the sex of individuals had a consistent effect on the leadership of the troops to feeding trees [34].
All of it the effects of the deportation machine, the wall, the troops sent in on Trump's orders, the border guards patrolling in riot gear at the busiest crossing between El Paso and Juarez feels like Washington forcing its policies on El Paso from 2,000 miles away.
The lack of detectable effects beyond the troop environment may mean that the program itself was not efficacious outside the meetings, that the troop leaders were ineffective, or that girls failed to attend to the core messages and active learning opportunities, among numerous possibilities.
In Baghdad, many of the troops have already withdrawn, and whatever preventive effect they had may well be fast evaporating.
