Better to tell the population something like: "There is a credible threat from AQ who would not refrain from killing innocent Muslim civilians in their efforts to attack us. Particularly vulnerable would be the people lined up for visas, so in response to AQ's demonstrated callous disregard for human life, we will restrict consular activities for X period to appointments only in order to minimize the threat to the people while continuing to provide necessary services."
Yeah, so in other words we closed the embassy to public business.

They're going to crow regardless. Or not, who cares. Who is the audience that is going to care? Does the Yemeni public care? Does the U.S. public?

I have become increasingly less convinced of the utility of IO massaging, especially IO that involves torturing the English language like some kind of Pravda press release principally so we can feel better about ourselves.