. ♪♪ [music break] amy: "ain't no sunshine" by bill withers. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. u.s. defense secretary lloyd austin has ordered a new high-level inquiry into one of the deadliest known u.s. airstrikes in recent years. in march 2019, a secretive u.s. special operations unit called task force 9 bombed the syrian town of baghuz, killing dozens of women and children. the bombing came as the u.s. was attacking one of the last strongholds of the islamic state in syria. the military then spent 2.5 years covering up the attack, even know the high civilian death toll was almost immediately appare to military officials. one legal officer even flagged the attack as a possible war crime. u.s. military officials downplayed the death toll, delayed reports, and sanitized and classified evidence of civilian deaths. u.s.-led coalition forces also bulldozed the blast site. the pentagon reopened its investigation only after "the neyork tim" exposewhat happed. this ces as u. central command ackwledgedunday civians may so
