[1] President Gerald Ford approved covert aid to the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), rebel groups in Angola, through Operation IA Feature on July 18, 1975, despite strong opposition from officials in the State Department and the CIA.
Ford told William Colby, the Director of Central Intelligence, to "go ahead and do it," with an initial US$ 6 million in funding.
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.
He believed the Ford administration could use diplomacy to campaign against foreign aid to the Communist 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, the ruler of Zaire.