The NY Times is reporting a “day-long” battle yesterday in Baghdad after a government raid on a mosque in the Fadhil neighborhood. The mosque raid was conducted by Iraqi forces, backed by American troops.

The Fadhil area is descried as a Sunni district surrounded by Shiite neighborhoods on the east side of Baghdad and because of their isolation residents had established an armed neighborhood patrol group that has slowly been taken over by the resistance.

Fighting began Tuesday just past dawn, when the Iraqis and the Americans cordoned off part of the neighborhood and began searching for militants, according to local residents and the American military in a written statement.

The Iraqi Army raided a mosque and killed two men in front of other worshipers at the early morning prayers, according to the residents and the Muslim Scholars Association, a hard-line Sunni religious group, which quoted witnesses’ reports. The American military said it had no information about any killings in the mosque.

“One of those killed was named Sheik Saif; he was the muezzin,” said Qais Ahmed, 36, a day laborer, who lives near the mosque. The muezzin is the person who calls the faithful to prayer from a mosque’s loudspeakers and often is a well-known figure in the neighborhood.

“Then, the locals took their guns and went out to fight the Iraqi Army and the police in reaction to these executions,” he said.

There have been quite a few mosque raids conducted by both the Sunni resistance and by the Shiite government forces, with loss of life. It’s hard for westerners to understand the religious split between the two sects of Islam that has lasted for moiré than 1,000 years, with recurring bouts of violence. At least one knowledgeable expert, COL Pat Lang, US Army (Ret) contends that much of the division and rancor is based as much in economic conflict as dogmatic dispute. (Long, but informative audio file.)

The battle left seven people dead, three insurgents and four Iraqi soldiers, and wounded 16 United States soldiers, according to a statement from the American military. Two Iraqi Army soldiers and one child were also wounded, the statement said.

But neighborhood residents reported far higher fatalities and said local gunmen had destroyed five Iraqi Army Humvees. The fighting damaged an Apache helicopter, the United States military said.

Residents have reported observing between 23 and 30 bodies that were collected at two other local mosques and wounded were not transported to hospitals because it was feared that they would be arrested as resisters.

Typical of this sort of fighting is the fact that there were women and children among the casualties, and that makes the tragedy even more poignant.

Interesting here is the fact that it appears the government forces actually were the lead on this raid, although at some point their US backup became involved. It’s not enough to assume they took the lead because there would be little resistance in raiding a mosque, and this might actually be a bit of proof that the government forces, both army and national police are actually gaining confidence in their ability to conduct independent operations. The existence of a local “neighborhood watch” group, with its infusion of more hardened resistance fighters, might have been an unexpected factor.

Leaving aside the horror of the civilian casualties for a moment, as the Iraqi army and national police gain experience and confidence there might be less occasion for US troops to be called in during operations of this sort and we might actually be able to get out of this quicksand bog. But until there is a reasonable political settlement recognizing and protecting the rights and safety of the Sunni minority, there can be no settlement. As things stand now it appears the Maliki government has no interest in compromising with its internal opponents.

Using Mr Bu$h’s “my way or the highway” as a political model will not work in bringing peace.