Operation IA Feature, a covert Central Intelligence Agency operation, authorized U.S. government support for

Jonas Savimbi Jonas Malheiro Savimbi (; 3 August 1934 – 22 February 2002) was an Angolan revolutionary politician and rebel military leader who founded and led the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). UNITA waged a guerrilla war agai ...

's National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and Holden Roberto's National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) militants in the Angolan Civil War. It was closely linked with parallel efforts by South Africa ('' Operation Savannah'') and Zaire. President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

approved the program on July 18, 1975 despite strong opposition from officials in the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

and the CIA. The program's discovery shocked Congress into barring further U.S. involvement in

Angola's Civil War The Angolan Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Angolana) was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war immediately began after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. The war ...

through the Clark Amendment.Andrew, Christopher M. ''For the President's Eyes Only: Secret Intelligence and the American Presidency from Washington to Bush'', 1995. Page 412.Richard H. Immerman and Athan G. Theoharis. ''The Central Intelligence Agency: Security Under Scrutiny'', 2006. Page 325. Ford told William Colby, the

Director of Central Intelligence The director of central intelligence (DCI) was the head of the American Central Intelligence Agency from 1946 to 2005, acting as the principal intelligence advisor to the president of the United States and the United States National Security C ...

, to "go ahead and do it," with an initial USD $6 million in funding. He granted an additional $8 million in funding on July 27 and another $25 million in August.

Criticism

Two days prior to the program's approval Nathaniel Davis, the Assistant Secretary of State, told Henry Kissinger, the United States Secretary of State, that he believed maintaining the secrecy of IA Feature would be impossible. Davis correctly predicted the Soviet Union would respond by increasing its involvement in Angola, leading to more violence and negative publicity for the United States. When Ford approved the program Davis resigned.Brown, Seyom. ''The Faces of Power: Constancy and Change in United States Foreign Policy from Truman to Clinton'', 1994. Page 303. John Stockwell, the CIA's station chief in Angola, echoed Davis' criticism saying the program needed to be expanded to be successful, but the program was already too large to be kept out of the public eye. Davis' deputy and former U.S. ambassador to Chile, Edward Mulcahy, also opposed direct involvement. Mulcahy presented three options for U.S. policy towards Angola on May 13, 1975. Mulcahy believed the Ford administration could use diplomacy to campaign against foreign aid to the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( MPLA), refuse to take sides in factional fighting, or increase support for the FNLA and UNITA. He warned however that supporting UNITA would not sit well with

Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...

, the ruler of Zaire.Jussi Hanhimäki. ''The Flawed Architect: Henry Kissinger and American Foreign Policy'', 2004. Page 408.

Clark Amendment

Dick Clark, a

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Senator from Iowa, who went on a fact-finding mission in Africa, proposed an amendment to the Arms Export Control Act, barring aid to private groups engaged in military or

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

operations in Angola. The

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

passed the bill, voting 54-22 on December 19, 1975 and the House of Representatives passed the bill, voting 323-99 on January 27, 1976. Even after the Clark Amendment became law, then-

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

, refused to concede that all U.S. aid to Angola had ceased.p. 52 Pages 186-187. According to foreign affairs analyst Jane Hunter, Israel stepped in as a proxy arms supplier for the United States after the Clark Amendment took effect.

References

{{Reflist

External links

"Our War" in Angola
Central Intelligence Agency operations IA Feature 1975 in Angola Angola–United States relations