The US handed over control, i.e. the Constabulary ended in 1952, seven years of Allied military direct control. For more information see links provided: http://www.history.army.mil/lineage/Constab-IP.htm
The Bundeswehr came along in 1955.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundeswehr
The German Mark came in 1948.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Mark
The German Constitution came in 1948.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grundgesetz_f%C3%BCr_die_Bundesrepublik_Deutschland
The first German Chancellor came in 1949.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundeskanzler_(Deutschland)
The first German post war courts, first elections, opening of airports, etc., all came LATER than in Iraq.
Things are going in all reality quite fast, you simply don't have a historical benchmark nor a concept of what right and wrong looks like. If someone tells you “XYZ” and it sounds good, you’ll go with that idea. Whatever the “mood” or “feeling” of the time is, that’s the opinion many share. From the Balkans to Korea, these sort of things do not go quickly and the S. Korean economy didn't really take off until 25 years after the war ended. Hell, they weren’t even really a democracy for many years after the war. Few would claim Germany to be a failure today, and that's a nation that does as little as possible around the world when it comes to securing our collective interests, a nation that more or less mooches.
We are back to the fixed fortification concept. I'm not going to bother explaining the military or historical concept. Bottom line, IF we are successful in stabilizing Iraq we have only built in fixed fortification in a sea of islamic chaos. It isn't going to win this war which is everyone against worldwide islam. We are not fighting terrorists and we are not even in most cases fighting ‘bad’ people. We are fighting a powerful religion. Until the west can face that everything they do will have little practical effect.