He was a fool to turn away from the light and turn to Sauron, - you probably didn't read my post carefully; he didn't turn to Sauron, but turned away from the White Council.
He exterminated women and children, cut down forests, poisoned the soil, and burned crops! - where do I approve of him for this? I'm not saying he's the best character, just the most ambiguous.
As for women and children, even the Valar were stained here. How quickly they flooded Númenor with women and children, and there were more of them than Saruman, more than Sauron destroyed.
Best intentions – he thought that by becoming ruler, he would be able to arrange everything well. Of course, this is not the case, but he sincerely believed it. In the end, Saruman still helped the White Council – if Uglúk hadn't shot Boromir, it is unknown whether Boromir would have overcome himself in his desire for the Ring, whether the people of Gondor would have followed Aragorn, how Denethor would have accepted Aragorn, and whether Boromir would have agreed to give him the throne.
Demilich – I also tend towards fantasy; I wonder if there is such a word in some "Dictionary of Foreign Words". ;)