IT appears that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is increasingly realising that the US and NATO allies' troops are running the show on their own without bothering to consult or inform him. Or else, as the Western media feels, the general elections next year in a country where the people are opposed to the presence of foreign troop are compelling him to come out with views that would be helpful in getting votes. Twice on Wednesday, at a news conference and before a UNSC delegation, he expressed his disgust at the role of foreign armed forces, accusing them of running a "parallel government" and calling upon the international community to persuade the US to set a deadline for their withdrawal. He went to the extent of saying that if he had the means, he would shoot down the US planes that were killing innocent people. As a handpicked head of state who neglected the Pushtun majority's interests and sidelined them in running the government, one could only sympathise with him. He should have known the Afghan sense of independence better than outsiders and conducted the affairs of the state accordingly.