The Clark Amendment was an amendment to the U.S.
Arms Export Control Act of 1976, named for its sponsor, Senator
Dick Clark
Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American television and radio personality and television producer who hosted ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 1989. He also hosted five incarnations of the Pyramid (game show), ...
(D-Iowa). The amendment barred aid to private groups engaged in military or
paramilitary
A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934.
Overview
Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
operations in
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
.
Even after the Clark Amendment became law,
Director of Central Intelligence
The director of central intelligence (DCI) was the head of the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1946 to 2004, acting as the principal intelligence advisor to the president of the United States and the United States National Se ...
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...
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
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
stepped in as a
proxy arms supplier for the United States after the Clark Amendment took effect. The Clark Amendment was repealed by Congress in July 1985.
Visiting Washington, DC on October 5, 1989, Angolan guerrilla leader
Jonas Savimbi
Jonas Malheiro Sidónio Sakaita 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 was on ...
praised the right-wing think tank
The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation (or simply Heritage) is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973, it took a leading role in the conservative movement in the 1980s during the Presi ...
on behalf of his organization,
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Liberat ...
, for advocating the Clark Amendment's repeal.
See also
*
Boland Amendment
The Boland Amendment is a term describing a series of U.S. legislative amendments passed between 1982 and 1986, aimed at limiting U.S. government assistance to the Contras in Nicaragua. The Reagan Administration supplied funding and military tra ...
*
Angola–United States relations
*
CIA activities in Angola This article deals with the activities of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Angola. The list of activities may be incomplete due to the clandestine nature of the subject matter.
1975-1976
The civil war in Angola took place following ...
References
{{Reflist
United States federal defense and national security legislation
Angola–United States relations