Syrian President Assad's 11-Year-Old Son Hafez Assad Dares America to Attack in Facebook Post

Hafez Assad, the 11-year-old son of Syria's President, Bashar al-Assad, has reportedly posted on Facebook his sentiments on the United States' plans of a military strike against his country. He dared America to attack because he wants the US to "make this huge mistake of beginning something they don't know the end of it."

The young Assad's Facebook post was commented and "liked" by the children and grandchildren of the senior members of President Assad's governments. Hafez Assad's post may just be a glimpse of the sentiment of Syria's rulers as the country prepares for a possible military attack in response to its use of chemical weapons that killed a thousand people and injured hundreds on Aug. 21.

It may be difficult to verify if the Facebook account does indeed belong to Hafez al-Assad. Details of the Hafez Assad account cast a shadow of doubt towards its authenticity. Taking a look at the About page of the account, it showed that the owner wrote he was an Oxford University graduate and Barcelona soccer player. These details may not be true to describe an 11-year-old boy living in Damascus.

However, some would interpret the information posted as the child's ambitions in life. The Hafez Assad Facebook account could also belong to the Hafez himself for many reasons. The account owner also wrote that he is a Montessori school graduate in Damascus. Vogue magazine once ran a profile story of the Syrian president's wife, Asma al-Assad in Feb. 2011, mentioning her children attended a Montessori school.

The Vogue article portrayed the Assad children as the usual children who played with remote-controlled cars, watched animated films on the iMac and lounging in the family home which was believed to be run "on wildly democratic principles". The article has been taken down from the magazine's Web site according to a New York Times blog.

Another strong reason that would support the authenticity of the Hafez Assad Facebook account was the comments and "likes" from Facebook accounts of children with ties to the Assad regime. Those who commented or liked the post appear to be two children of Syria's Deputy Vice President Mohammed Nassif Khierbek and three children of Assef Shawkat, a former defence minister killed in a 2012 bombing incident.

(Source: Youtube/CNN)

Meanwhile, the UK's sudden decision to withdraw support for a military strike against Syria unless the United Nations has mandated the action has left the US alone in a possible military action in retaliation to Syria's chemical weapons attack. US President Barack Obama has said he is prepared to take action without the aid of Britain.