It's an interesting point you make. It may be that OBL was shredded into chunks at Tora Bora or is sealed in a cave after a JDAM blew the entrance. The recent tape of the No. 2 guy, not OBL, suggests to me OBL is dead and gone, literally.
Maybe the members of the inner sanctum believe OBL is coming back form the dead.What a smashing story that would be.