WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, following reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki directed the shutdown of U.S. and Iraqi military checkpoints from Sadr City, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a member of the Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement:This is yet another example of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the Iraqi government yielding to sectarian pressure rather than providing national leadership.Our troops surrounded Sadr City, a major hot spot and a place where kidnappers may be holding one of our own soldiers, and Prime Minister Maliki is once again undermining efforts to rein in violence within Baghdad. His on again-off again approach to disarming the militias is undermining efforts by both the Iraqi security forces and the United States military to provide basic security for the people of Baghdad. Today, the critical issue in Iraq is whether the Maliki government can muster the political will to confront those who use violence to destabilize Iraq. If the Maliki government wont stand up to them, then military efforts alone will not guarantee success.