Pakistan, Oct. 7 -- Senator Raza Rabbani's warning that Parliament must be taken into confidence on Pakistan's "new US policy" could not have come at a more fraught moment. Over the past week, foreign reports have once again described Pakistan's power corridors as if they were diplomatic backrooms, this time over an alleged Pasni port "proposal," supposedly discussed with Washington. Islamabad insists no such plan has been offered or even tabled. Yet, the story has already travelled far enough to raise an old question: why does Pakistan's foreign policy always seem to unfold offstage?

The reports-some tracing the idea to private intermediaries "close to" the military-were thin on substance but heavy with implication. There has been no me...