Having declared in the previous verses that this war was brought about by the unrighteous desires of leaders, Moroni gets very specific. He lays the fault at the feet of the kingmen. “[Had] it not been for the desire of power and authority which those king-men had over us,” Moroni felt that if “we had gone forth against them in the strength of the Lord, we should have dispersed our enemies.”
Moroni was more correct than he knew. He will not discover that until he reads the letter that Pahoran sends in response (Chapter 61).