Obama Accused of Skirting Islamic Extremist Threat, at ‘Summit without Substance’

FOX NEWS: President Obama took pains Thursday to stress, once again, that the West is "not at war with Islam" as he wrapped a three-day White House forum on "violent extremism" -- but in the end, drew criticism that he was going to extremes to avoid talking about the threat of Islamic extremists.

"Sadly, this was a summit without substance," said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. "Americans understand we are not at war with Islam. But, we will not defeat these fanatics if we refuse to define them for what they are -- violent Islamist extremists."

The president and top officials in his administration, as they have before, generally avoided using the term "radical Islam" during the summit. Instead, Obama argued that groups like the Islamic State "use Islam to justify their violence" and that to accept that connection would be to embrace the "terrorists' narrative." (+ FoxNews video) » | FoxNews.com | Thursday, February 19, 2015