Washington, USA - A survey of evangelical Christian leaders this month found a majority support the U.S.-led war in Iraq, but almost as many expressed serious reservations.
Most of those who responded to the National Association of Evangelicals' survey back the war and want the United States to "stay until the job is done."
Each month, the NAE chooses topics to measure attitudes of its board of directors, which includes top executives of 60 denominations and representatives of mission groups, universities, publishers and churches.
"Most evangelicals in America subscribe to the theological position called 'just war' theory, that it is morally justifiable to go to war under certain conditions," said Leith Anderson, a Minnesota pastor and president of the NAE. "However, there is also a strong evangelical voice in the 'peace church' tradition that opposes all war."
Some who considered the Iraq invasion "a mistake based on faulty intelligence" said leaving now is wrong. One unidentified denominational CEO said: "We should not have gone in. But we are going to need to stay in long enough to prevent chaos and to stabilize the country."