People keep repeating this 'Islamic burial' thing but apparently the Sunni and some other sects leading scholars are all vehement that an at-sea-burial is totally un-islamic in this case.

I think it's more likely that the fact he was buried at sea (in the naval tradition) has more to do with his body being on a Navy vessel at the time, them not wanting to repeat the 'holding Uday and co for days' thing and they justified it afterwards with the other explanations.

I have a lot of friends pushing the conspiracy angle too, the stupid... it burns.

http://www.al-islam.org/laws/burial.html

"624. If it is feared that an enemy may dig up the grave and exhume the dead body and amputate its ears or nose or other limbs, it should be lowered into sea, if possible, as stated in the foregoing rule."

I suppose it's a matter of debate whether this was the BEST way to dispose of bin Laden according to Islam, but it certainly seems to be one approved way. Especially when you consider how many people would love to drag bin Laden's corpse behind their quad bikes.

And yes, disposing of bin Laden's body in a way acceptable to Islam is a smart political move: it says we don't have a grudge against Islam itself.

Exactly. All the fans of Bin Laden are welcome to visit his corpse at the bottom of the ocean. Although I do wish they would have paraded his body around a little. Not for the conspiracy theorists, but for the sheer joy of it.

Plus this would have to be the worst planned conspiracy ever. Osama would just have to put out another video of himself giving the thumbs up. "Im still heeeeere!"

Yeah, I've already had to laugh at one wingnut for claiming that bin Laden may not really be dead ("you're a paranoid lunatic" were my exact words, with laughter). He backed down quickly. I get the feeling I'm going to have to laugh at a lot of people over the next several months.

Problem is, he's already loaded it into a rocket bound for Mars.