Although Kerry had previously made many of the points in Friday's speech, it was the first time he presented an anti-terrorism plan in such a comprehensive way.
Anthony H. Cordesman, a senior national security analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who said he is not endorsing either candidate's approach, said Kerry's speech amounted to "a wish list of any measure that anybody has proposed without seeing whether they are cost-effective."
He gave Kerry credit for addressing the growing Muslim resentment of the United States and the need for debt relief in Middle East countries. But he said the Bush administration has already been undertaking many of Kerry's proposals, such as expanding the CIA's clandestine service and the military's Special Forces units.
"I have the impression," Cordesman said, "that somebody assembled all the possibilities that would have a rhetoric impact and crammed them into a speech."
One area in which Kerry worked to set himself apart from Bush was on Saudi Arabia, saying the administration has not held it accountable for financing al Qaeda terrorism.
"As president, I will do what President Bush has not: I will hold the Saudis accountable. Since 9/11, there have been no public prosecutions in Saudi Arabia, and few elsewhere, of terrorist financiers," Kerry said.
Bush and others in the administration say that they have put significant pressure on the Saudis, and that the Saudis have become more aggressive in arresting al Qaeda members living in the country and in closing down religious-based contributions to the organization and its affiliates.
Kerry also said that at U.S. ports, he would increase the budgets for "the most promising cargo inspection programs" by 600 percent. A spokesman said Kerry was referring to two widely applauded programs run by the Department of Homeland Security to increase surveillance of incoming containers in foreign ports such as Hong Kong, and to work with U.S. importers to tighten their security. Both programs have been severely understaffed, experts said.
Stephen E. Flynn, a retired Coast Guard official and author of a homeland security book called "America the Vulnerable," said Kerry's proposal makes sense because it would result in tighter security without delaying the flow of goods: "I applaud any effort to bolster the resources going to these two important programs."
Staff writers Dana Priest and John Mintz in Washington contributed to this report.
