Operation IA Feature, a covert Central Intelligence Agency operation, authorized U.S. government support for Jonas Savimbi'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 approved the program on July 18, 1975 despite strong opposition from officials in the State Department and the CIA. The program's discovery shocked Congress into barring further U.S. involvement in Angola's Civil War through the Clark Amendment.[1][2]
Ford told William Colby, the Director of Central Intelligence, 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.[1]