The 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, a unit known as Rakkasan, was conducting Operation Iron Triangle in 2006 in Iraq when soldiers killed eight unarmed Iraqi men. The U.S. Army severely reprimanded Rakkasan commander, COL Michael Steele, for the unethical command climate his leadership allowed to exist within the unit at the time. This unit will need a new commander who can create and maintain an effective and ethical command climate through his or her leadership. That new commander should resolve the issues that led to the war crime complaint in order to establish a culture that perpetuates an ethical command climate. According to MCRP 4-11.8B, War Crimes, there are a number of factors that, when present, can lead to war crimes being committed. These factors include high friendly casualties; high turnover rate in the chain of command; dehumanization of the enemy or use of derogatory names or epithets; poorly trained and inexperienced troops; poor standard of small unit discipline; the lack of a clearly defined enemy; unclear orders; and a high level of frustration among the troops. In the case of the Rakkasans, the use of derogatory names for Iraqis and high frustration with the rules of engagement existed within the unit due to COL Steele's leadership. The Kill Company is an article written by Raffi Khatchadourian that provides some insights into the situation within the unit that led to Operation Iron Triangle. The article highlights several issues that have led to the unethical command climate; this paper will identify five of them and explain how they led to the unethical command climate. First, the Rakkasans were not doing Arab cultural awareness during their training exercises. This lack of exposure to Arab culture l...... middle of paper ......l for a war crime to occur. Not only must the commander expect ethical behavior from his soldiers, but he must also live an ethical command. To provide an ethical command climate, the commander must be an ethical role model capable of gaining the trust and confidence of his Soldiers. The fifth issue will be automatically resolved once the establishment of an ethical command climate is successfully completed. With this culture in place, soldiers will not place items like the kill board at their company headquarters because they will understand the ethical implications of doing so. The commander will have provided the leadership necessary to create and maintain an ethical command climate. Soldiers will see the Iraqi population as human beings and will make ethical decisions that can lead to winning the hearts and minds of the local population.