What happened to these pesky terrorists?

Let's not forget about that big terrorist airline plot that British authorities busted up this summer, as it seems to have largely dropped out of the news (just as the bogus "ricin plot" did). I posted doubts about it here, here, here, and here. Considering that the plot promised "mass murder on an unimaginable scale", I find it odd that some of these guys have been quietly bailed or even released outright. I suspect that when politicians want to scare us with terrorist bogeymen who may or may not be legitimately dangerous, they rely on the fact that the public has a really short memory for news stories -- just in case they turn out to be "semi-harmless losers". If these airline plotters had been the proverbial real deal, I expect that Tony Blair and John Reid would still be crowing about it, and that we would now be seeing sensational terrorism trials.

In fact, I know someone who claims to have been acquainted with one of the arrestees; my friend told me that, far from being an Islamist fanatic, the alleged plotter was a petty drug dealer. I suspect (though I have no further inside information) that in the end, he'll be prosecuted for nothing more than whatever drugs charges they can make stick. [ See also the story of the completely innocent alleged terrorist who was shot in his home by 250 armed policemen, and not properly apologized to, but rather head-spinningly charged for the dodgy porn they subsequently found on his computer. ]