Well, it seems to me that with the Iraqis commanding their own army, directing their own oil industry, and sending their own ambassadors to other nations, that is pretty substantive. The structure of the interim government is being set up by consulting every ethnic group and tribe in the country. Members will be announced in a few days.
They will be a fully sovereign nation. This was a big point for the Iraqis, and it is not cosmetic.
We shall see. I don't mean to demean the turnover, such as it is. I just am not going to be sucked into the rhetoric. Mark me down as cynical. But as posted above, the US has good reasons for keeping it cosmetic at present.