Bangladesh, Jan. 23 -- There is something faintly theatrical about the Washington Posts recent report claiming that a US diplomat in Dhaka openly told Bangladeshi journalists that Washington wants to cultivate relations with Jamaat-e-Islami and views Hefazat-e-Islam through a pragmatic lens. The report is built around alleged audio recordings from a closed-door meeting. It is presented with the authority of quotation marks and the confidence of a paper that has made its reputation by puncturing power. Yet the story collapses the moment one asks a basic question: if an American diplomat had truly said these things, why would the audio ever see the light of day?

Diplomacy, especially American diplomacy, is not conducted with the recklessne...