Did we deep six bin Laden or put him on ice?

I want to be clear that I am not questioning whether bin Laden is dead. Even Al Quaeda admits that. However, I do wonder about the burial at sea. Supposedly it was a big deal to bury him the same day. Yeah, right. Even many Muslim scholars question these obscure requirements.

However, even if true, who is really ever going to be able to confirm that we put him in a weighted bag and tossed him into Davy Jones' locker. Even people watching on the ship would only know that a bag got tossed over, but would likely not know what was in that bag. It would seem like a more reasonable scenario to *claim* that we disposed of the body, but keep it on ice, just in case it later becomes useful. True, we could keep pictures, but conspiracy people will simply claim they are doctored. Obama says that we shouldn't treat bin Laden like a trophy, perhaps to contrast with the blood-thirsty George W. Bush's desire to have Osama's head cut off, frozen in dry ice, and sent back to him in a box. However, the reality is that bin Laden is a trophy of sorts. In particular, it might be instructive to keep his corpse around to show to the Saudi royals and some of the other Emirs, warlords, and potentates in the Middle East, so that they know we mean business.