Operation IA Feature, a covertCentral Intelligence Agency operation, authorized U.S. government support forJonas Savimbi'sNational Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) andHolden Roberto'sNational Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) militants in theAngolan Civil War. It was closely linked with parallel efforts bySouth Africa (Operation Savannah) andZaire.PresidentGerald Ford approved the program on July 18, 1975 despite strong opposition from officials in theState Department and the CIA. The program's discovery shockedCongress into barring further U.S. involvement inAngola's Civil War through theClark Amendment.[1][2]
Ford toldWilliam Colby, theDirector of Central Intelligence, to "go ahead and do it," with an initialUSD $6 million in funding. He granted an additional $8 million in funding on July 27 and another $25 million in August.[1]
Two days prior to the program's approvalNathaniel Davis, the Assistant Secretary of State, toldHenry Kissinger, theUnited States Secretary of State, that he believed maintaining the secrecy of IA Feature would be impossible. Davis correctly predicted theSoviet 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.[3]John Stockwell, the Chief of the CIA's Angola Task Force at Langley, 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 toChile,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 theCommunist 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 withMobutu Sese Seko, the ruler ofZaire.[1][4]
Dick Clark, aDemocratic Senator fromIowa, who went on a fact-finding mission in Africa, proposedan amendment to theArms Export Control Act, barring aid to private groups engaged in military orparamilitary operations in Angola. TheSenate passed the bill, voting 54-22 on December 19, 1975 and theHouse of Representatives passed the bill, voting 323-99 on January 27, 1976.[2] Even after the Clark Amendment became law, then-Director of Central Intelligence,George H. W. Bush, refused to concede that all U.S. aid to Angola had ceased.[5][6] According to foreign affairs analyst Jane Hunter,Israel stepped in as aproxy arms supplier for the United States after the Clark Amendment took effect.