Obama sees ‘silver lining’ in ISIS fight

President Obama said there is a “silver lining” in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, arguing that Middle Eastern nations could use the opportunity to build a lasting anti-terror coalition.

“We’re going to be able to build the kind of coalition that allows us to lead but also isn’t entirely dependent on what we do,” Obama told a group of Democratic donors at a fundraiser in Baltimore.

{mosads}Arab nations needed to “snuff out” that type of “Islamic extremism,” he added.

The president said he was confident that the U.S. would be able to put together an international coalition that, coupled with American military power, would be able to push ISIS back “and ultimately destroy them.”

The White House has repeatedly emphasized the role of international partners in the president’s strategy, unveiled Wednesday night, to combat the extremist group.

“This strategy is one that is being pursued not just by the United States alone, but by a broad international coalition that’s being led by the United States of America,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said earlier Friday.

The president was speaking at the home of Howard Friedman, the former president of AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Tickets to the event ranged between $10,000 and $32,400 and benefited the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Maryland Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, both Democrats, were in attendance, as was DSCC Chairman Michael Bennet (Colo.).