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Why would I publicly ask the family, making it known to CNN, rather than go privately to the family? It was our government who asked. That's clear in the following.

The article is not linked, but it says:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States has formally approached the bin Laden family and asked them for DNA samples, officials said Wednesday. The United States wants to rule out definitively that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was not killed in a recent CIA missile strike in Zawar Kili in Afghanistan. The armed forces pathology lab is examining human remains from the strike. They are trying to determine the identities of people killed in the missile strike. One of the people killed in the strike has been described as tall, dressed in Arab white robes, and treated with deference by others, leading to speculation that it could have been bin Laden.

What can we learn from the decision to publicly ask instead of privately ask? Does it say anything about our suspicions?

If I DO THINK I'VE KILLED Osama, would I be more likely to ask publicly or privately?

If I think I've killed him, I'd definitely want it public. If I think I've not killed him, I'd definitely want it private. If I'm honestly uncertain, then there are propaganda purposes that could be served by either choice.

What can we learn from the decision to publicly ask instead of privately ask?

That the family has already been asked privately, and did not cooperate.

Does it say anything about our suspicions?

Certainly. We think we may have gotten him.

Going public also puts pressure on him to do something that shows he is still alive. When he does, and he must if he is still alive, he will give us clues.

I'm a bit surprised by a public request -- obviously, the government officials want to know the truth, but it serves official purposes (not creating a martyr to energize other Islamofascists, keeping the threat of Osama's next move before the public to maintain support) to keep his death (if he is dead) secret or at least uncertain.