Dave Hirsch, I agree with you. It is way too risky to claim that he’s dead if he’s not.
However, in the government, anything is possible. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but I have worked for the government & know that try to cover up massive & risky things (vaccination side-effects, epidemics among soldiers, etc.).
However, in all of those cases, it was clear they had alot to gain & little to lose by covering it up….but what can they really gain by faking Osama’s death? It seems that they would have much more to lose (which would be whatevers left of their reputation) than to gain (which would be…???).