I almost overlooked this little detail from the story in today's New York Times about the fighting in Samarra:

In other violence illustrating the danger on the roads between Baghdad and Tikrit, attackers opened fire on a Turkish diesel fuel tanker on Sunday evening, blowing out four of the eight tires, police officers said. The driver managed to get the tanker to a police station near Samarra. Policemen quickly showed the truck to a visitor, then locked themselves inside the station.

Read that last sentence again. Self-rule in six months? Sure, no problem!