"A weapons supermarket-type cache"

(Multinational Forces Iraq)

One US officer's description of 1,129 mortar shells seized in a raid next to "Route Tampa" south of Baghdad. As the accompanying news story notes, these are the primary ingredient of IEDs -- their relatively poor condition clearly indicating that they are not something that just rolled off the Syranhamasbollah assembly line, but were simply part of the piles of stuff left lying around after the invasion in 2003. A weapons supermarket with no guards. Thanks Rummy.

One other thing. Perhaps in an effort to leave behind appellative disasters like "Operation Forward Together", the naming of the military operation associated with this seizure is explained as follows --

Operation Wolverine Alesia is a joint operation designed to deny terrorist sanctuary along Route Tampa, the military designation for Iraqi Highway One, leading into Baghdad from the south. The operation began Saturday and is ongoing. The operation is named after a Roman battle led by Julius Caesar against the Gauls in 52 B.C., where the conquering force surrounded the enemy at the fortifications of Alesia in modern-day eastern France and defeated the defenders through siege warfare. The battle of Alesia marked the turning point in the Gallic Wars.

DUDES! You're the ones inside the "heavily fortified Green Zone."