Assad's Son, 11, May Be Taunting US on Facebook

Bashar al-Assad's son Hafez is only 11 years old—but he's already making some pretty bold political statements, if his supposed Facebook page is to be believed. In a post noted by Foreign Policy and the New York Times, Hafez purportedly writes, "America doesn't have soldiers, what it has is some cowards with new technology who claim themselves liberators." He adds: "I just want them to attack sooo much, because I want them to make this huge mistake of beginning something that they don't know the end of it."

"They don't know our land like we do, no one does, victory is ours in the end no matter how much time it takes," the post says. The page perhaps gains credibility via the people who "like" it, including, apparently, other Assad family members and the kids and grandkids of top officials. On the other hand, "Hafez" claims to play for Barcelona's soccer team, have attended Oxford University, and have been in a relationship (though the 11-year-old is now single, it seems). Regardless of the page's authenticity, "at the very least, it was written by someone doing a convincing impersonation of what the family believes," writes David Kenner for Foreign Policy. (More Bashar al-Assad stories.)