"Winning The Peace" Course Prepares Cadets For Iraq-Afghan Deployments

Yesterday's Lower Hudson Journal News reports on the course titled "Winning the Peace" that West Point Army cadets have been taking for the past four years. Aimed at cadets likely to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, the course is designed to teach them about different religions and cultures and to train them for community outreach and policing. The semester-long course features some 30 speakers on a variety of topics. It culminates in a 3-day trip to Jersey City, hosted by the Jersey City Police Department and the city's Islamic Center, during which cadets study cultural diversity firsthand. They sleep on the carpeted floor of a Jersey City mosque, and interact with religious and ethnic leaders. Examples are a Q&A with Coptic Orthodox priests and attending evening prayers at the mosque.