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When did President Obama label as 鈥渢error鈥� the attack that killed the US ambassador to Libya? This issue has become one of the most contentious to arise out of Tuesday night鈥檚 presidential debate at Hofstra University. That鈥檚 because it involved a tough question, a heated response, a lunge counterattack, and then intervention by controlling authority. (It sounds Shakespearean when we summarize it that way, doesn鈥檛 it? As if it鈥檚 a lost scene from 鈥淗amlet鈥� or 鈥淜ing Lear.鈥�)

This dramatic exchange began when moderator Candy Crowley asked Mr. Obama whether Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was responsible for any US failures that led to the assault in Benghazi, which killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. Obama replied 鈥� as he had to in that circumstance 鈥� that as president the buck stops with him.

Then he added this: 鈥淭he day after the attack ... I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people and the world that we were going to find out exactly what happened. That this was an act of terror, and I also said that we鈥檙e going to hunt down those who committed this crime.鈥�

After a few more lines from Obama, Mitt Romney pounced. Pacing the stage like a big fish that thinks it鈥檚 spotted a tasty herring, the former Massachusetts governor repeated Obama鈥檚 assertion that he鈥檇 used the word 鈥渢error鈥� in the Rose Garden.

鈥淚 want to make sure we get that for the record because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror,鈥� said Mr. Romney.

Snap. Just like that the herring turned into a lure, and Romney got caught.

鈥淕et the transcript,鈥� said Obama.

Moderator Crowley, who had access to the transcript in question, stammered out this:聽 鈥淗e did in fact sir ... call it an act of terror.鈥�

鈥淐an you say it a little louder, Candy?鈥� said Obama.

OK, that鈥檚 the set-up. Going back and looking at the transcript ourselves, Ms. Crowley was right. The day after the deadly assault the president stood outside at the White House and among other things said that 鈥渘o acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for.鈥�

Plus, Obama repeated variations of this line at two fundraisers the next day. So, in a narrow sense, Romney was wrong. The word 鈥渢error鈥� was part of Obama鈥檚 language about the attack from the first.

But in a larger sense Romney isn鈥檛 wrong. It took weeks for the administration to state clearly that the attack was a particular act of terrorism carried out by radical Islamists. Crowley made this point during the debate, too, but it got overshadowed by the reaction to Romney bungling the attack.

Crowley clarified this in interviews following the Hofstra rumble. For a long time, administration officials kept insisting that the attack was the outgrowth of protests about a US-made anti-Islamic video, she said on CNN afterward. References to 鈥渢error鈥� were general, and details were vague.

Romney 鈥渨as right in the main. I just think he picked the wrong word,鈥� said Crowley.

For instance, during an appearance on ABC鈥檚 鈥淭he View鈥� on Sept. 25, Obama himself declined an opportunity to label the assault as terrorism. He said instead that 鈥渢here is no doubt that the kind of weapons that were used, the ongoing assault, that it wasn鈥檛 just a mob action.鈥�

Evidence now points to an organized attack by heavily armed members of a local Islamic militia.

Finally, we鈥檒l take this a step further: Is arguing over word choice missing the point? You call it 鈥渢error,鈥� I call it 鈥減otato鈥� 鈥� the real issue is why the US did not see the attack coming and move to prevent it. Was there intelligence chatter about a possible attack tied to the date Sept. 11? Why didn鈥檛 the ambassador have more security guards? What do we know about the motivations of the attackers? (According to New York Times interviews with locals, for instance, the militia in question was indeed outraged over the anti-Muslim video.)

That鈥檚 a larger and more important argument to get into. And what do you know 鈥� there鈥檚 another debate next week that focuses on foreign policy. We bet this subject comes up. Quickly.