The UK Plot: Don't Believe The Hype? (Pt. III)

My cynical side has me following the liquid-bomb/plane plot, trying to see if this plot (which is increasingly falling out of the spotlight) was what it was hyped to be. Here's the latest news on the arrested terrorists-

Five suspects who have not been charged in an alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound airliners with liquid explosives can be held for another week, a judge ruled Wednesday...

...Of the 25 people originally arrested in raids earlier this month, 15 have been charged. In addition to the five who remain in custody without charge, five others have been released.

Eleven have been charged on those counts of conspiracy to murder and preparing to commit terrorist acts. Four others are accused of lesser offenses, including withholding information about a planned terrorist act from police...

Bold added by me where emphasis was needed.

Dangerous terrorists? Yes. Imminent, code-red threat to national security? Maybe not.

More from the NY Times-

...[F]ive senior British officials said, the suspects were not prepared to strike immediately. Instead, the reactions of Britain and the United States in the wake of the arrests of 21 people on Aug. 10 were driven less by information about a specific, imminent attack than fear that other, unknown terrorists might strike...

...In fact, two and a half weeks since the inquiry became public, British investigators have still not determined whether there was a target date for the attacks or how many planes were to be involved. They say the estimate of 10 planes was speculative and exaggerated...

...Despite the charges, officials said they were still unsure of one critical question: whether any of the suspects was technically capable of assembling and detonating liquid explosives while airborne...

..."In retrospect,"’ said Michael A. Sheehan, the former deputy commissioner of counterterrorism in the New York Police Department, “there may have been too much hyperventilating going on.”

Okay then. So do I still have to throw away my toothpaste before I fly?

I'll give Homeland Security this... at least they are actual terrorists, unlike the last time.

UPDATE: The Chicago Tribune has an excellent article with more facts:
Questions raised over some terror plot charges