You are perfectly right, Little Hawk. Disturbing right, actually.

The orcs were elves, the highest born of Middle Earth. They show us
what happens to even the highest born when they become obsessed with the Ring of Power. Gollum shows us the psychological process that turns even a loveable hobbit into a creature that eats its own kind. That's why the ring has to be destroyed.

Given that Tolkien says that the orcs were elves, he could have given them all histories, but with all that added back story, LOTR would have been really long;-)