Specialists in international public diplomacy, however, said the president missed a chance to launch a much-needed program to more directly critique the roots of Muslim extremism and counter its ideology of hate with a war of ideas…

Timothy Furnish, a specialist on Islamic history, said that while the president’s statement that the United States is not at war with Islam is true, the problem is that “Islam is at war with us.”

“For every passage the president cited from the Koran on Islam eschewing violence, I can cite two or three that promote violence,” said Mr. Furnish, a former Arabic linguist with the 101st Airborne Division.