Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, arrested in Pakistan and turned over to U.S. authorites, is believed to be a mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. He is being interrogated as we write. But instead of being flown to the U.S. or Guantanamo, he has been flown overseas , probably to Afganistan.

The intelligence information Mohammed is believed to possess -- including, perhaps, the locations of bin Laden's hideouts as well as details of al Qaida operations and structure -- makes him much more valuable for interrogation as an enemy combatant, the source said, adding that questioning will likely take place overseas.

Being flown overseas? Why? Undoubtedly because overseas countries like Afganistan allow torture to be administered during interrogations.

But let's draw the dots. Who else is being interrogated overseas? Ramzi Binalshibh. The U.S. says Ramzi has been talking (again, why...torture, perhaps?)--that's the reason they gave for not wanting to make him available to Moussaoui's lawyers, even though he might have information that would exculpate Moussaoui.

Remember when Ramzi was arrested, after being secretly taped during an interview about the 9/11 attacks on al Jazeera television with another Al Qaeda member? That other Al Qaeda member was Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan on a "law enforcement tip." Time Magazine reports,

Sources tell Time that agents had been led to his hideout through the earlier arrest of an Egyptian in Quetta who had been in contact with Mohammed. Neighbors, wary of the lone Arab who appeared in their working-class area, tipped off the police, hoping for a reward. Phone records led them to Rawalpindi, where investigators say Mohammed had been hiding for 10 days before his arrest.

We suspect the tip was one emanating from Ramzi Binalshibh--and again, we question whether it was obtained via torture. Torture is an unacceptable violation of human rights that should not be countenanced by the U.S. wherever it takes place. We have no business being complicit in it. It demeans us all.

Update: Atrios, in a comment over at Oliver Willis, says, "Once we give our state the power to decide who is naughty and who is nice without any due process, and torture them, then unless we've decided that ours is the only state that has that right - Because We're Special - we can't criticize others for doing so."