It really doesn’t matter much. No USG official should be travelling 400 miles from the embassy without proper security on the ground (unless you’re a properly trained operator). Especially not the ambassador himself and especially not in such an unsettled environment where there are always threats. The idea that these were rioters shouldn’t have been pushed by Rice. They should simply have stated the facts (that the US contingent was attacked and the amb, among others, was dead) and stated that the rest is as of this moment not fully resolved.
I agree, that would have worked out better for them than the lie they told. The problem is that this interfered with Team Obama's claim that with Osama dead al Qaeda was finished off. So they came up with a story they figured the MSM would buy. Remember, for 3 days after the attack the "story" was that Romney's comments were a gaffe. Very little attention was paid to the attack with all the MSM's fire trained on Romney. Team Obama was so convinced that the MSM would cover for them and would broadcast any lie that they got very, very stupid.