[Alex]

Spoiler:

True, except in the internal framework of the film there is a level of non-dream reality. If that isn't true then you no longer need give any credence to the "rules" if another interpretation is more to one's liking.

I'm sure Nolan knows what he thinks happened but I'm also sure he wants it to be ambiguous.

Oh and

Spoiler:

Cobb is not in every scene in the movie. Several scenes with Joseph Gordon-Levitt take place without even a sleeping Cobb in the scene. The scene with him stealing a kiss from Ellen Page, for example. Or both of his fight scenes in the hotel.

Also, both of the scenes where Eames is pretending to be Tom Berenger and interacting with Fischer take place without Cobb being in the room.

So if Cobb is dreaming those, he's dreaming content he wasn't present for.