John McCain celebrated Libyan rebellion at site of rebels’ public beheading, videos show

Evidence collected by a young London-based organization called Human Rights Investigations indicates that when Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain went to Benghazi in April to express his support for Libyan rebels, he visited the site at which the rebels publicly beheaded an alleged pro-Gaddafi “mercenary” only weeks before.

Documented atrocities included lynchings, a summary execution of a group of up to 22 prisoners, and — in perhaps the most harrowing video clip distributed online — a public beheading.

As one of the rebels begins sawing at the already blood-soaked man’s neck with a long knife, cries of “Allahu Akbar!” ring out. Like countless black African migrants and dark-skinned Libyans, the beheaded man appears to have been accused by the rebels of being a pro-Gaddafi “mercenary.” The Dutch public broadcasting service NOS reported that some in the crowd shouted “He looks like he’s [black] African!”

Two days later Arizona senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, made a surprise visit to Benghazi in order to publicly call for stepped-up American support of the rebellion. McCain spoke glowingly of the rebels and their cause, even saying of the Libyan rebels: “They are my heroes.”