Cool, Richard!!! You're making a lot more sense now.
So I'll help you out, with some of your questions.

We nearly know (after much digging and a surprise fact emerging late in the day) that the incursion was lawful (probably, if the agreement was still in force). We won't know whether ObL was political/religious leader or combatant until we know the truth about what was in his computers. The absence of an internet connection would have limited his hands on role in real time.

Islam (especially the radicals), make NO distinction between political and religious, combining the two into one. There is a link that I provided, that shows that, with NUMEROUS sources, in the bibliography!!
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The factual benefit or otherwise of the death remains to be seen - and so on to the remains.

TRUE!!! (Who do you trust these days??)

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A little rummaging on the internet seems to reveal some odd points.

First - was ObL for ritual purposes a Muslim at all? An official body had carried out what seems to be the Muslim equivalent of excommunication some years back.

TRUE! (In the links that I provided, it shows the Islamist grounds for 'excommunication'..which, BTW, can also carry a death sentence, and that is why the world of Islam is yet divided about his death! Radicals either dismiss him, for that reason, OR use him as a symbol to justify more of their deal. Moderates, dismiss him, because he has brought war to them, and on them as well! So, its mixed, depending on what faction re-acts.

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Second, did he die in battle or otherwise? Although I have not nailed down the differences it appears that battlefield death rites are less formal (as one might expect).

Again, the death reports are, at best, not fully given, and what we DO have, is just the administrations accounts..which many people doubt, even claiming he was dead a long time ago!..Who knows?

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Third, does Islam require burial in the earth except in the case of those who die at sea? If it requires return to the earth, what is wrong with the earth that lies under the sea?

According to Islam, the dead are supposed to be buried with their head pointed east, toward Mecca. ...Personal note: Hopefully with enough currents, it gets to do that a few times..perhaps!


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Fourth, if burial at sea is permitted, should the body have been lowered not launched, should it have been weighted, should it have been in a clay container or otherwise protected to a greater or lesser extent from being immediately consumed by predators?

the 'reported' story, was, and is also true, about burials at sea, is that he would have been placed in a weighted 'bag'(f you will), and lowered. I imagine, coming off the deck of an aircraft carrier, the 'lowering' still would have made a bit of a splash...(but that is speculatory..but is also the common practice at sea.

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Why didn't the US armed forces know the answers to these questions, given the planning that went on and the apparent intention to reduce reprisal risk.

I'm sure they did...remember, that there was a 'story' that had to be cooked up, for public consumption..The amount of truth in the released story, may be questioned, for years to come
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Or doesn't it matter? Would the US be equally happy if fallen US soldiers' bodies were disposed of in accordance with Afghan, Pakistani, or other Islamic law?

We usually request our fallen to be returned, but not all the time, as one can see on the hills above Normandy.

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I hope these answers, which you can research, help you out.
Try the link on one of my previous posts.

I also hope, that you can remain open, about all this. Frankly, its a huge cluster-fuck!

GfS