U.S. WEIGHS ANGOLAN REBEL AID

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000201210001-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 21, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 16, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/06/21 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000201210001-6
ARTICLE APPcARED
ON PAGE fy- 1
U.S. Weighs
olan
Rebel Aid
Resumption Is Urged
Tor Show Resolve
Against Communism
1 B David B. Ottawky
Washington t to Writer
WASHINGTON POST
16 October 1985
way to determine the Soviet role,.
rhtentions and prospects in Angola,
according to- intelligence and con-
gressional sources.
At issue is whether the United
States should provide either mili-
tary or humanitarian aid to the non-
communist National Union for the
Total Independence of Angola
(UNITA) led by Jonas Savimbi,
whose guerrillas fighting in south-
ern Angola have recently been un-
der heavy pressure from the Soviet-
supplied and Cuban-aided forces of
the Marxist government. A subsid-
iary question is whether this aid
should be provided through covert
or overt U.S. channels.
Earlier this month, sources said
The Reagan administration is in bot t e CIA and entaeon seemed
the midst of a major policy review to favor covert military aid similar
to decide whether to resume U.S. to ?e'aistance being given to the rebels in
military aid to noncommunist guer-
rillas fighting Angola's Marxist gov- Ailsa,deing studied is the possible imposi-
ernment, according to congression- tioiY-ot trade embargo, affecting either U.S.
al and intelligence sources. exportsto Angola, the importation of Angolan
The review has touched off an oil,;or both, a step being urged on the admin-
acrimonious interagency debate
that pits the administration's global isb*tiolt by conservative Republican groups
strategists, intent upon showing like the Conservative Caucus and the Amer-
U.S. resolve against the growing ican Security Council.
Soviet and Cuban military role in According to government sources, the
Angola, against its "regionalists," Csmtt~ Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon
who fear U.S. aid to the guerrillas, and the NSC staff all strongly support mili-
will end U.S. efforts to negotiate a t* T, aid-perhaps even covert assistance-
peaceful settlement to the dispute e the State Department is said to be just
over Namibia, or Southwest Africa. as vehemently opposing any shift from the
The debate takes place amid ad- current U.S. policy of no assistance at all.
ministration preparations' for the "We still don't think providing arms is the
Nov. 19-20 summit between Pres- way to 'do it," said a State Department
ident Reagan and Soviet leader spokesiwpan, adding, "We think negotiations is
Mikhail Gorbachev, and a number the way out." He was referring to U.S efforts
of policy-makers are arguing that to resi lve through negotiations the twin
now is the time for Washington to problems of the withdrawal of Cuban troops
send a strong message to Moscow from Angola-now said to number as many
about the U.S. resolve not only to as 35,000, up 5,000 from last year-and in-
help noncommunist guerrilla forces
in Angola but elsewhere in the NSmIbIieace for South African-administered
world. N~'
In addition, they are arguing that An.dmuustration decision to ask Congress
Gorbachev is behind recent offen- fat ov t assistance is likely to touch off an-
sives by Soviet-allied governments other Utter debate there similar to the one
it,Afghanistan, Nicaragua and Ethi- over U,$. aid to anticommunist forces, known
against noncommunists fight- as the "contras," in Nicaragua.
ing i those countries and'thatAbe. A -debate over U.S. oolicv toward AngOIa
United States must respond to bpl- took pace in 1975-76 after it was discovered
ster its position going into the sum- that the CIA was secretly funneling more
mit. than 30 million in military and other assist-
At least two National Security. anre tg two rebel factions, one of them
Council-chaired meetings have been' UNITA, which were then locked in a three-
held, the latest last Friday. In ads way civil war and power struggle ultimately
ditioe, a Special N tional._Intellia won by the now ruling Popular Movement for
gel Estimate, a. quick in-depth., the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). In January
study by the various branches of the '
intelligence community, is under
1976, Congress passed the Clark amend-
ment, which was sponsored by then-Sen. Dick P
D-Iowa banning
m ary aid to Angolan rebels.
That amendment was repealed by Con-
gress last July, opening the way for the de-
bate now going on inside the administration
over whether to resume aid to UNITA.
Supporters of a renewed American involve-
ment on the side of UNITA say there may be
less congressional opposition this time be-
cause of Soviet and Cuban involvement in
Angola and the fact that the United States
has never had diplomatic- relations with the
Marxist Angolan government. In addition,
State Department efforts to negotiate a so-
lution to the Namibia dispute, or a withdrawal
of Cuban troops from Angola, have been un-
successful.
Opponents of such a policy say an open
U.S. alignment with UNITA will inevitably
draw Washington into a closer alliance with
white-ruled South Africa, UNITA's most im-
portant source of support, and undermine the
administration's efforts to pressure Pretoria
to reform its apartheid system. South Africa
is presently the main supplier of arms and the
conduit for other outside military aid to
UNITA.
e Rep. Claude Penner fi)-FIB, chairman of
the House Rules Committee, introduced a bill
earlier this month authorizing the U.S. gov-
ernment to provide up to $27 million in hu-
manit"n aid only to UNITA, and Sen. Steve
Symms (R-Idaho) is "seriously thinking" about
sponsoring a similar bill in the Senate, accord-
ing to an aide.
"We're waiting for word from the White
House," an aide to Pepper said. "We feel
there will be significant developments in a
matter of days."
Savimbi has asked the United States for
military aid, though he has not submitted any
written request to Washington yet, according
to Jeremias K. Chitunda, UNITA foreign af-
fairs secretary.
Chitunda said in an interview that UNITA's
top priority right now was antitank and an-
tiaircraft weapons to counter the Angolan
government's Mig fighters, Hind helicopter
gunships and tanks recently supplied by the
Soviet Union.
He said $50 million in military aid would be
more useful than $100 million in humanitar-
ian aid. "Humanitarian assistance is just a way
of evading ... the issue ... , " he added.
Chitunda asserted that the Soviets had de-
livered $2 billion worth of arms in the past 18
months. but U.S. intelligence sources said it
was more like $1 billion worth since January
1984.
Approved For Release 2010/06/21 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000201210001-6