Not all Elders are like that, but the vast majority is. To understand the logic of those Elders we first need to realize their nature; they're mostly priests and politicians that don't benefit from intra-SA fighting, cause this diminishes their power and authority. Primarily authority. But on the other hand, they're eager to declare a crusade in those areas where SA's influence can spread and they're doing it to gain authority over larger mass of followers. For successful crusade means more people to do their bidding. It is a gutless politic of convenience that has no similarities with anything that can be considered spiritual. I find it highly amusing that this method backfired and that crusade in Terran has done more damage that what is worth.
It's not yet clear the crusade cost more than it was worth. Short-run, sure. The long run hasn't come yet.
But let's be clear: what you call "gutless" is simply pragmatism. We expect to lose a war: why would we start one?
Nobody except Asylon starts wars with a negative expected value. Plus Hireshmont has lost a major war before and didn't like how it felt. He's not willing to watch the same fate befall SA that happened to the Moot.
Niselur can attack if they want. But I don't know what Leopold expected. He's dancing with Hireshmont mostly, an incurable alliance-builder. When Leopold managed to out-ally Hireshmont, the jig was up for war, unless it's a war of raw Niselurian aggression and expansion.
