Do you think if the extremists are treated decently, Iraqis would be successful in changing their mentality? Or is it a lost cause?
It's useful to counter claims that the ISF and PMF torture systematically, but no, extremists should be treated harshly. The soft approach was used in 2013 by not interfering in IS uprisings back then disguised as tribal revolutionaries, they should've cracked down on them harshly back then. Of course the Arab world was stoking tensions en masse back then, Al Arabiya called the ISF for Maliki forces.