I suppose the decades of forced labor, forced comfort women, occupation and oppression are little reason to define any action as defensive... If that's the case i happily take the role of aggressor. Turning a blind eye to that would be the same as being complicit. Part of the reason Ilberd was such a crazy mad bastard was because he knew things were bad for many, even under Gaius's reign. He wasn't in the right using and tricking people as the griffin, but it's easy to see what desperation can do to a person.
Under Zenos things were worse, he only enjoyed the slaughtering of people because he was bored, he only used Gaius's brain washed Ala Mhigan fodder brigade to kill their own people.