Although widely reported, American drone operations over Yemen are considered to be covert by the administration.
Even so, U.S. counterterrorism activities inside Pakistan — that is, covert operations conducted by the C.I.A. and JSOC — are not expected to diminish anytime soon.
Outside analysts note that during Dr. Abbasi's brief tenure in his new job, Iran's top leaders have focused on showing that they have overcome multiple setbacks, inflicted by what they suspect to have been covert actions by the United States and Israel, and broad economic sanctions.
He supported Cameron's visit, saying it had helped highlight intimidation of the media, and said the biggest issue for journalists was covert surveillance by the military, often in civilian clothes.
Although the visit flouted city rules, the group made little attempt to be covert: they invited passers-by to sign a petition supporting their efforts.
The CIA training was covert and never publicly endorsed by the king.
Transparency-wise, the move would bring the controversial drone program out of the shadows, since targeted killings are covert operations when carried out by the CIA.
I remembered these separations when I read about microinequity and micro-affirmation, terms coined by Mary Rowe, who defined micro-inequities as" apparently small events which are often ephemeral and hard-to-prove, events which are covert, often unintentional, frequently unrecognized by the perpetrator, which occur wherever people are perceived to be 'different.'".
Patrick Byrne has been doggedly pursuing what he claims is a covert effort by hedge funds and some financial analysts to drive down the shares of Overstock.com, which sells discount goods online.
Perhaps it is the covert nature by which it was distributed to the international press corps that got everyone excited.
