Maybe we should speculate about how the Nazi heirarchy would have handled the Third Reich if Hitler had died? Would they have done something similiar?
Don't forget, Iraq is a family run operation and the widow(s) and kids have a lot at stake - their lives!!
Shades of Big Brother (about whom -- you may remember -- Winston Smith says he does not know whether he is still alive or not)!
Actually, we have a closer analogy than Hitler: Saddam's model Stalin. I wonder why Stalin's lieutenants didn't pretend he was still alive after 1953. After all, there were actors available who had done a persuasive job of playing Stalin in movies.
Maybe der Furher is still alive. One of the supermarket tabloids said the 114 year old is still hiding in Argentina. LOL.