major general linda singh is in the house with us tonight.f? [applause] coming to the stage, we have a real life peacemaker. she has spent the past 10-plus years working hard to find nonviolent solutions to some of the largest conflicts around the world-- jamila raqib. [applause] war has been a part of my life since i can remember. i was born in afghanistan, just 6 months after the soviets invaded, and even though i was too young to understand what was happening, i had a deep sense of the suffering and the fear around me. those early experiences had a major impact on how i now think about war and conflict. i learned that when people have a fundamental issue at stake, for most of them, giving in is not an option. for these types of conflicts, when people's rights are violated, when their countries are occupied, when they're oppressed and humiliated, they need a powerful way to resist and to fight back, which means that no matter how destructive and terrible violence is, if people see it as their only choice, they will use it. most of us are co