Compromise Called Possible on Interrogations

How about we translate this into English:

Other administration officials said it became clear over the weekend that the administration was going to have to give ground. “I don’t think anyone anticipated the avalanche of opinion that would be assembled on the other side of what seemed like a pretty abstruse legal issue,” one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to discuss the issue with a reporter.

What Bush wants is the authority to torture.

Why the NYT would go with an anonymous, "he-said" quote calling it a "pretty abstruse legal issue" is completely beyond my understanding.

Further, the word "torture" does not appear anywhere in this article. Again, why the NYT would perform this little dance is totally beyond my comprehension.