[Kuruharan]

Child

I agree with the general direction of your comments that he is largely referring to the situation in the world current at that time. However, I am still a bit puzzled. The statement itself relates directly to Middle earth. Even if it was not in a letter he sent to someone, I believe it reflects some measure of his thought on the matter.

I guess the center of my perplexity (and this relates to the astute comments made by Saucepan Man) is that it almost smacks of a justification of the actions of Saruman. Admittedly, Saruman was driven for lust for the Ring into employing and breeding orcs, however, the idea of Gandalf or Aragorn going out and hiring Ugluk and crew to help fight the war seems dangerously close to seizing the great weapon of the enemy and using it against him.

There is another aspect of this and it hinges around the word "breeding." I think that if the opponents of Sauron, in an attempt to defeat him, engaged in this breeding are engaging in the same type of perversion of life that Melkor engaged in at the very beginning. In view of the phrase "most hateful to Ilúvatar" I think this might in some way be worse than seizing the Ring.