The Angolan Civil War: A Summary

I've seen first hand the effects of what a devastating civil war can do to a country, I saw it in Angola. A country that from its beginning has been built on bloodshed, first with its gruesome and violent war for independence, and continuing on to its civil war. Angola, which was originally a Portuguese colony, was held captive to a war for independence, which cost the lives of thousands of Angolans. But even more devastating than this, was the civil war. It began only a few months after the war for independence ended in 1975. The South Africans, who had been involved in that war, still had many troops in Angola, and backed by the Americans where hoping to make it a democratic country. However the Communists soon learned of this and as a result, sent in 11,000 soldiers to help protect communism. Jonas Savimbi, the head of UNITA (The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), working with the South Africans and Americans, tried to turn the country towards democracy, while Agostinho Neto, leader of the MPLA (Marxist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) and also the military, was working with the communists to make Angola a communistic country.

However, only four short years into the war, Neto died of cancer and was buried in Moscow. Savimbi and the South Africans thought the war had come to an end, but they were wrong. On September 21st, Jose Eduardo Dos Santos was sworn into presidency unanimously by the central committee of the MPLA.

The war took a turn for the worst in the 1980's as the United States and the Soviet Union both fought over the country. They believed that whoever won the war in Angola would win the cold war. So it continued, both countries doubling the help they gave to their puppets. The Americans, through many conservative factions such as the Heritage Heart Foundation, raised millions of dollars for UNITA. Even having Savimbi himself come and tour the states, holding press conferences throughout the country.

The South Africans also helped by sending in thousands of troops from 1981 to 1989. The Soviets responded to both these actions by delivering massive amounts of military aid. In 1984 alone they gave them 2 billion dollars worth of ammunition. Cuba also added to its population there by raising it to 40,000 troops in 1985. Fighting continued over the next few years, claiming the lives of over 100 thousand Angolans - most of them being woman and children.

In January 28, 1989, the South Africans, the Cubans, and both Angolan political parties, met to hold a round of negotiations. In June they agreed to a ceasefire. The United Nations passed Resolution 626 later that day, creating the United Nations Angola Verification Mission a peace keeping force. Troops began arriving in Angola later that year. Three months into the pact however, Dos Santos complained that the U.S. and South Africa continued to fund UNITA. The next day Savimbi called off the ceasefire, and the war started again.

Support for Savimbi over the next few years caused him to win major strategic battles, Soviet, Cuban and Angolan casualties began to mount. In 1992, at its height of military strength, UNITA controlled over half of Angola. Savimbi then began to attack government and military targets around Luanda, the Nations capital. In 1991 the Cubans retreated, withdrawing the troops from within Angola and causing many spectators to believe Savimbi was going to win the war. However in May of that year Savimbi and Dos Santos meet in Portugal to sign the first of three peace agreements.

The peace agreements made the FAA (Angolan armed forces) disband and were the cause for the 1992 presidential election. Dos Santos winning by 49.57% to 40.6%, Savimbi, who was the other contender, complained that the elections were unfair. However all that was cut short, when government troops attacked UNITA. Raiding the houses of members and having them shot on sight, then burying them in mass graves. Yet somehow through this, UNITA pulled through and won a string of battles, all over the country.

On January 9^th UNITA began a 55-day battle over Huambo, called the war of the cities. Hundreds of thousands civilians fled, and over ten thousand were killed, before UNITA finally won. On September 15, 1993, the United Nations Security Council sanctioned UNITA, and prohibited the sale of weapons and fuel to it. The United States also changed its foreign policy, especially towards UNITA, when President Clinton labeled UNITA, "A continuing threat to foreign policy objects of the U.S." By August 1993 UNITA controlled over 70% of Angola, but America's withdrawal from the war caused UNITA to go into what Savimbi called, "its worse crisis yet." Because of that, UNTIA had to sue for peace, and by November 1994 the government had retaken 60% of the country.

Over the next four years the UN spent over 2 billion dollars on trying to keep the situation peaceful. However in 1999, the Government launched a massive offensive, recapturing many cities run by UNITA. And by December more the half of UNITA's militants were dead and the other half afraid to keep fighting. Savimbi, fearing the worst, retreated back to his base in Moxico, where he began fortifying himself. The last two years of the war were characterized by illicit arm trading, each side trying to get the upper hand in weapons. UNITA, slowly beginning to lose its touch, carried out a number of attacks on civilians in an attempt to show strength. This however, only helped to show the world how low UNITA state really was.

In 2002, Savimbi was finally caught and encircled by government troops, in the Moxico province. He was shot 15 times in the head, legs, and chest. He returned fire, but soon after died from his wounds. As news of his death spread, it was viewed skeptically at first, but when pictures were circulated, there was no denying it. Savimbi was dead! Thus the war ended, with UNITA laying down arms and Dos Santos winning the war.

23 years before, in the South African veld, a young man had just been drafted into the army, his name was Thaddeus Booysen - he was 17 years old. The first few months in the army were spent in training, with rigorous physical exercise every day, as well as tactical learning. He nearly broke down in his second month but he pulled through, and by the end of the year, he was sent up to Angola.

His first job on the front lines was as a cavalier, and he learned and saw a lot in that time. Over the next five years he served in the infantry, and as a radio operator. He saw most of his action in the time he spent in the infantry, when he was fighting in Ovamboland. Thaddeus also served as a prison guard, and it was during this time that he began to dislike the fighting, but he couldn't leave the army yet, so instead he served as veterinary assistant. Still, he didn't feel like he was doing enough to help, so he arranged with his superiors to captain a special squadron who would be sent on PR missions with the local Angolans. Distributing medical supplies and bibles, in order to gain support from the local population, so they would give information on the whereabouts of Swapo insurgents.

The last three months of his time in the army, he refused to carry a weapon, and was almost court marshaled for this. Finally he was released from duty in 1987, and went back to South Africa, where he began doing missionary work with the Angolan refuges. When asked what he thought about the war, Thaddeus said this: "In retrospect I am very much against war, although not all of my experiences in the army were negative. I learnt a lot about myself and also about the heart of man, but looking back, I think the war could have been avoided, by South Africa managing their own political situation better. And the huge expense of the war could have been saved and that money used to develop the rural areas of South Africa, in farming, which would have been a benefit to the poor. But that is another story in itself."