Moroni makes his accusation clear. Even though God is on their side, and even though the Nephite foundational promise was that they would be preserved through faithfulness, this does not mean that they have died because they were unrighteous. The promise of God is general for the people, not specific to the person. The people will be preserved, but many righteous may die. Moroni’s conclusion here stands in interesting contrast to Mormon’s synopsis of Moroni’s position after the fall of Nephihah:
Alma 59:11
11 And now, when Moroni saw that the city of Nephihah was lost he was exceedingly sorrowful, and began to doubt, because of the wickedness of the people, whether they should not fall into the hands of their brethren.
Alma 59:12
12 Now this was the case with all his chief captains. They doubted and marveled also because of the wickedness of the people, and this because of the success of the Lamanites over them.
These two verses appear to come to the opposite conclusion to that Moroni expressed to Pahoran. Perhaps we are seeing the difference between the perspective of Mormon and that of Moroni. Mormon was living in a time when there was widespread apostasy, and he certainly imputed the ending of the Nephite polity to a lack of faith. He may have been imputing his understanding forward to Moroni’s time. Certainly the statement from Moroni is directly opposed to the idea that military losses must necessarily mean a lack of faith.