Jordan: Mom to The Rescue

Never underestimate a mother's devotion. Last October, when Cathy Phelps Mahone, 32, of Dallas learned that her Jordanian ex-husband had violated a court order and taken their daughter Lauren, 7, to the Middle East, she tried every possible step to get the child back. When legal channels failed, Mahone turned for help to several retired U.S. Army antiterrorist specialists and joined them in a bold "rescue mission."

As described in press reports last week, the raid, said to have cost $100,000, began on a January morning when Mahone and one of her troopers flagged down a school bus in the Jordanian town of Jerash. While he pinned the driver to his seat, Mahone swept her child off the bus. The raiders fled by car and crossed into Israeli-occupied territory. Maternal mission accomplished.