Brett Wilkins is a San Francisco-based freelance author and editor-at-large for US news at Digital Journal. His work, which focuses on issues of war and peace and human rights, is archived at www.brettwilkins.com.
The facts and numbers from numerous sources reflect the reality of deprivation in America, and help to confirm what has been called the "sharpest rise in the U.S. poverty rate since the 1960s."
"If the U.S. is truly to end the post-9/11 wars and related activities around the world, then the U.S. public and its leaders must take a broader view of their reach."