Columnist Benjamin Grove: Farmer raises homeland security issues

Benjamin Grove

Friday, March 21, 2003 | 6 a.m.

A DISGRUNTLED North Carolina tobacco farmer came to Washington last week to protest agriculture policy. But he ultimately taught this city -- and others -- a hard lesson in homeland security.

The nation's capital was already jittery on Monday when Dwight W. Watson drove his John Deere tractor into a shallow pond on the National Mall. Watson told police he had explosives, so they backed off. The broke and bitter fifth-generation farmer blamed government policies for the recent demise of his farm.

On heightened alert, 100 officers swooped in from the FBI, the U.S. Park Police and District police.

And then they waited. For 47 hours Watson camped out in the pond during negotiations with authorities, as police snipers trained rifles on him. He snacked. He sat, and rocked back and forth. He relieved himself in the pond.

The nearby Federal Reserve Board and several other government office buildings closed, along with streets in a well-traveled area of the city, snarling traffic during three rush-hour cycles.

Anxious District residents caught in standstill traffic wondered how the city could ever be evacuated in the case of a real emergency. Curious pedestrians wondered: Why can't they just shoot a tranquilizer dart at this guy or something?

Finally Watson gave himself up and they hauled him away in handcuffs, leaving us to wonder: How did a disheveled, 50-year-old farmer with a subsidy gripe, armed with a bag of snacks, hold the United States capital hostage?

In response, authorities played up the peaceful outcome. They said they would have moved more aggressively if Watson had acted more urgently.

Security experts said that short of erecting barriers that would drastically change the personality of the city, little more could be done to change the National Mall to prevent wayward tractor operators from inviting a siege.

And we can't really blame the U.S. intelligence community for not thwarting a farmer suddenly gone berserk. There's been a lot of strange-looking protesters in Washington lately -- Watson himself had calmly obtained a Mall permit to protest "tobacco seed and farming issues."

In short, this was probably a case of the unpreventable.

And that's what's scary. At an orange-alert time when major cities like Washington and Las Vegas are on edge about a counter-strike from terrorists, it's not reassuring to know a stressed-out farmer could wreak so much havoc.

What if he had explosives? Or something worse? What if Watson hadn't been a tobacco farmer at all, but a highly trained team of terrorists?

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge last week said the United States is far better prepared for a terrorist attack than it was on Sept. 10, 2001. To be sure, Washington is a whole new city: outfitted with new emergency plans, studded with unsightly jersey barriers, under constant surveillance of fighter jets patrolling overhead. The city launched its war-time plan Wednesday night, with more cops on the street and stepped-up communication between the city and federal intelligence officials.

And certainly we're all more vigilant here, armed with duct tape and canned goods. We're hyper-sensitive to new sounds and smells, always wondering: Is this when the other shoe is going to drop?

So if there is anything that Dwight W. Watson accomplished last week, it is that he taught us a lesson: U.S. cities are more prepared for terrorists than ever before. Just as long as they don't drive into town on a John Deere tractor.