midlevel officials
bad thinking on our part if it is true and it probably is true. The State Dept has a nasty life of it's own and will travel down some strange roads if they aren't watched carefully.
Interesting to note that Putin attributes this to midlevel officials and also points out that the torture controversy is the type of thing that does not reach the top level.
Still wonder why the Ruskies can't TCB better than they have shown