Thoughts on the characterization of the mercenaries?

I was rewatching some playthroughs of the tribunal, and I'm trying to put together an idea of what the mercenaries are meant to represent, as people, from a narrative standpoint. They're arguably the most "evil" characters in the game, but I think that they also represent the tragedy inherent to warfare. My interpretation is that they're meant to be a depiction of how inhumane systems such as unfettered capitalism can break down and ruin individual human beings in order to make them inhumane as well. While there's no excusing their crimes, I think there's something to be said for the fact that people in the ruling class have use for hired, trained killers, and the fact that serving in war can destroy a person's ability to live any other sort of lifestyle. In my playthrough, Ruud Hoenkloewen and Phillis de Paule were shot dead and Raul Kortanaer was hospitalized (though I know that he can be killed as well). I won't deny that shooting them would be the right call in that situation, and I think it's inescapably tragic that any human being could become so monstrous that the only feasible way to resolve the problems they're causing is to end their life.

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What do you all think? Do you agree, or am I missing something? I'm really interested to read what y'all have to say.