Comparing empires without excusing colonialism

Condemning one colonial empire does not imply approval of another. British and French objections to Belgian rule form an argument about the severity of Belgian abuses, with the British and French empires themselves explicitly condemned. The harsh judgments about Spanish conquest rest on claims of lasting depopulation in parts of South America and the near-destruction of Indigenous Caribbean communities. These are forceful comparative claims about colonial violence, rather than a detailed demographic account. Criticism of one regime need not repeat every criticism of the others to preserve that distinction.