"Why did they attack? The usual unfettered totalitarianism?"

He says it like it's common enough in his world - because it is. There's always some upstart demagogue or another trying to cause problems that need to be put down.

Mass murder of civilians would fit into that but to be fair, people sometimes to find excuses for it on all sides.

There is a sound like he's trying to grind down a part that's gotten corroded, to make it smooth again.