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WASHINGTON  AP  鈥?The searing images once again claimed center stage: a mob storming the U.S. Capitol, Trump flags held aloft as violent rioters fought with police and t stanley cup argeted lawmakers.But as the traumatic video footage from Jan. 6 grips viewers of the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, there is one place where, publicly, the trial is being studiously ignored: the White House.President Joe Biden stressed to reporters in advance that he would not be watching the proceedings and his team   message is clear: Their focus is on the business of governing and not the historic events unfolding at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.White House press secretary Jen Psaki has dodged question after question about the trial, declining to offer Biden   opinion on the proceedings. And Biden   calendar this week is meant as counterprogramming to the trial: events focused on getting aid to those suffering amid the COVID-19 pandemic and bolstering vaccine distribution to control the virus.The message discipline reflects both the political and practical realities of the moment for the president.Privately, White House aides note that the president would gain little politically from weigh stanley cup ing in on the trial and that any comment he makes would draw the focus away from his predecessor   miscon stanley cup duct and onto Biden   own views.WATCH: Biden delivers remarks during visit to PentagonAnd they say that, on a practical level, staying above the fray allows Bi Kccy Some Louisville police stage protest, walking out on mayor
* {( i2 Y% Q! E Although coalition p salomon lanners stressed combat operations were continuing, Central Command generals said the raid demonstrated that the Iraqi government cannot defend its capital.[The assault] reinforces the reality that the regime is not in control of all the major cities, Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told a Central Command briefing.He added that Monday   raid would likely lead to future military assaults.Opportunities are created by operations, Brooks told re nike dunk porters. There are things that will come as a result of today.Lt. Col. Peter C. Bayer, the 3rd Infantry D adidas og ivision   operations officer, told reporters at 10 a.m. local time  2 a.m. EDT  that troops were near the Information Ministry and that they are the proud owners of the presidential palace, The New York Times reported.According to the Associated Press, a nearby headquarters of the ruling Ba ;ath Party was destroyed during the assault and American soldiers also reportedly destroyed a 40-foot statue of Saddam Hussein.Asked whether the attack was the beginning of a sustained battle for Baghdad, Captain Frank Thorp, a U.S. Central Command spokesman, told CNN the attack was an armored raid through the city, bringing down any resistance that we meet and taking down any leadership capability [forces encounter].Earlier, Major Michael Birmingham, chief public affairs officer for the U.S. 3rd Infantry, told Reuters the attack would be of a