PROLOGUE

FROM THE AUTHOR (Texts in orange are links):

I first met Mustafa Kazemi on Twitter. As is my usual wont, I horned into a conversation he was having with a mutual friend...LOL ( I am bad at that), and the truth is at that moment I had NO clue who he was. NONE. 

I had never heard of Mustafa Kazemi or any other Mustafa for that matter.

No idea that he was in reality the pre-eminent combat journalist in Afghanistan. Known around the world for his achievements. At the age of 25.

Former Lieutenant in the Afghan Special Forces. Former Envoy to the UN. Chief Editor for Sky News UK in Afghanistan...and so much more. Nope. I had NARY A CLUE. 

I suppose I should be embarassed about that, but...actually, I am sure that part of the reason is: 
I have to admit, sadly, that at the time I was as ignorant about Afghanistan as most Americans were and still are to my constant amazement and chagrin.

But he began to talk/tweet with me and from the start it quickly seemed almost as if I was talking with an old friend...and at least subconciously I became mildy curious about him, so later I went to his website...and that is where it began. Over the next few days I became fascinated with not only who he was but what he had accomplished and what had happened to him. I found pictures of him at the firefight in Kabul at the Intercontinental Hotel, and I was profoundly moved. DEEPLY so.

We became friends...and the more I began to know about him, the more I knew as a writer that his was a story that ultimately I wanted told...and I wanted to be the one to tell it.

I started eventually writing a novel about him. But I ran into time issues and had to stop for a bit. (I will pick that up and finish it over time as I have more of that time thingus. LOL).

But, it has kept nagging at me in the back of my mind that what I really wanted to do was not to write a novel about him...at least not only a novel. I wanted to write a non-fiction book about him. About his life. About how he came to the place where he is now. What drives him. What inspires him. What makes him DO what he does. Where he came from, his hopes and aspirations and dreams...all things that speak to and address the matter of just WHO Mustafa is and how he got to be that way.

THIS is that book. THIS is the book about one of the most fascinating people I have ever known and THIS is, I hope you will find, the in-depth story of Mustafa Kazemi...perhaps in truth one of the emerging faces of the very future of Afghanistan.

BUT it really wasn't just a matter of seeing his life story told. Because I knew to do his life story justice and for it to have intensity and passion, it needed to be told by someone who knows him and maybe more importantly, someone who cares about him. Well, by now I do know him, know lots of things about him, and admire and respect him probably more than anyone else I know. For to me he stands apart from most. If for no other reason than that he is and always has been immensely curious. But even more than that, Mustafa has never been willing to merely sit on the sidelines. He seems almost driven to DO. To TRY. To MAKE A DIFFERENCE...in any way he can, and he has. Incredibly so. 

Yes, I know him, and you are about to and THAT is my gift to the world. To tell his story so others will know and see what true bravery, true heroism, true humanity...really is, for he brings all that and more to life in abundance.

As the title of this book suggests, I have come to know Mustafa as truly a tender warrior. He is perhaps the bravest person I have ever known. But he is also one of the most sensitive and tender-hearted at the same time. THAT is rare, but I also know it is one of the pivotal reasons why he is so good as a correspondent. What he reports comes from his observations to be sure, but it also passes through the prism of who he is and the heart he has. That makes all the difference in the world. It causes him to not want to settle for less than the full picture, and he doesn't. It makes him want to put a human face on the stories he tells, and he does. He immerses himself and dedicates himself to getting to the truth, to the bottom of things, and he does so and then reports on it in a way that almost no one else does...certainly not in the Middle East.

It is also his selflessness.

A good example of that: This past Christmas (2012) Mustafa went to Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan and spent Christmas with the troops stationed there. OUR troops stationed there. He didn't go home to be with his family. Nope. He went to one of OUR military bases in Afghanistan and did what he could to help OUR military forces who are all so far away from home, feel welcome and cheered. He hardly had to do that, but do that he did. When I heard that he was doing that I misted. 

But that is Mustafa Kazemi. Tender Warrior. Brave as hell and kind-hearted to his toes.

So now, I hope you will settle back with the book, fire up a beverage, and prepare yourself to be mesmerized, fascinated, and even gripped by the story I am about to tell...the life of Mustafa Kazemi, War Correspondent/Tender Warrior.

SHALL WE?

 

Bravery under fire...Gallantry in his bones.

But through it all comes his humanity.

You sense his love and gentle spirit that inspires

and stands as a promise to all who have the

good fortune to experience him almost above all else. I hear this over and over. People FEEL Mustafa, and it explains a lot about his appeal. His personal charisma and character drive the narrative that you feel all around him.

MUSTAFA KAZEMI -

It just doesn't get any better than this courageous Afghan...

and he truly is just that. 

COURAGEOUS...and tender.

That is REALLY quite a combination.

DEDICATORY PRAYER

Dedicated to all those whose hearts he touches, whose opinions he helps shape, whose intelligence he increases, whose hopes and dreams he inspires. His words sustain, inform & educate, like verbal foodstuffs to a world starving for lack of truth. He quenches in kind those who are also dying of thirst. 

To the mentally blind he brings insight, to the wounded he brings a special kind of healing, to those who lack in strength, he seeks to protect...and to ALL those who simply need to KNOW, he becomes a more than adequate source of nourishment to those starved for edification and education about all things Afghanistan, Middle Eastern, and globally.

'Tender Warrior' is equally as dedicated to the gentle yet mighty warrior that is my friend, my Mate, Mustafa Kazemi. May he ALWAYS walk with the angels of heaven keeping him in their tender care as he goes.

May the forces of evil be ever vanquished and banished to the perimeter beyond where they can touch this mighty yet tender warrior.

Finally, may all who encounter him be aware of the spectacularly unusual person he is. For they well may never meet another quite like him.

AMEN!

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

CH 1 >