This reminds me of Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz taking over as Fuehrer of the Third Reich after Hitler offed himself, and one week before Doenitz surrendered the Reich to the Allies.
Yeah, but Doenitz lived.
I actually think that Bin Laden if he does escape may be damaged goods and not as powerfull because of both his statement to fight to the death (while hiding in caves the whole time), and because no special forces agent would have much respect for a man who was stupid enough to talk about his operations on video. Especially how some of the operatives were deceived into going along not knowing it was a one way trip. Bad for recruiting.