A largely covert conflict is already taking place between Iran and the United States.
Mr. Gerecht said he was inclined to accept the administration's account of the Washington murder plot, which he sees as a bold escalation of hostilities in the covert conflict.
MI5 was a key player in Britain's bloody war against the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland, but with that complex, often covert, conflict still fresh in memory, the account given here is tantalizingly spare on operational details.
His administration also threw money, guns, and training ― sometimes illegally ― at the brutal Nicaraguan Contras in another Cold War covert conflict in which about 100,000 civilians died. .
Although withdrawal is not equivalent to covert conflict, it is possible that withdrawal often involves covert conflict.
Moreover, covert conflict may prevent resolution that reduces child stress (Cummings et al. 1991).
Finally, covert conflict by its nature may leave the child feeling alone and isolated in his or her perception of conflict and insecurity, or in his/her inability to articulate, understand, or receive support for experiencing covert conflict.
It may be that the existence of covert conflict is the result of long-standing, entrenched, chronic conflict.
The above studies suggest that both covert and overt forms of coparental conflict can give rise to child anxiety, but the evidence is stronger for covert conflict.
Covert conflict may be linked to withdrawal from overt conflict and interparental withdrawal has been found to represent an advanced stage of chronic conflict that has particularly negative repercussions (Cox et al. 1999).
