Was the UK Terrorist Arrest Story Total Fear Mongering Bullshit Hyped By Bush and Blair?

Have two boys falsely cried "Wolf!" "Terrorist!"? Josh Marshall and Andrew Sullivan have companion posts online for Time Magazine, which together call into question now every single story or alert of terrorist threat in the news. Marshall observes how the cases in the Miami and New York arrests of alleged coup plotters have both proven in reality to be non-existent threats. And Sullivan observes the total absence of any evidence yet to support the contention that any plot to blow up airliners out of the UK ever actually existed. Marshall recalls that "the 18 months prior to the 2004 presidential election witnessed a barrage of those ridiculous color-coded terror alerts, quashed-plot headlines and breathless press conferences from Administration officials," and that the coincident "timing of the alerts seemed to fall with odd regularity right on the heels of major political events." Sullivan wonders "if Lieberman's defeat, the resilience of Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the emergence of a Hezbollah-style government in Iraq had any bearing on the decision by Bush and Blair to pre-empt the British police and order this alleged plot disabled." He then quotes UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, who says "We then have the extraordinary question of Bush and Blair discussing the possible arrests over the weekend. Why?" update: Kevin Drum voices his doubts as well.