On 5 November 1918, six days before the cease fire was blown on the west front, held President Woodrow Wilson a power and a prestige that few statesmen before or after him in a similar diplomatic, political and militar situation. Wilson had an edge against both his enemies and connected that made him supreme.  

If the world's foremost democracy went to war the motives must be noble and selfless, morally impeccable. The U.S could not go in the fight for a compromise peace but for an eternal peace, not to move any boundaries but to create an ideal world structure. 

But war with noble and good purposes becomes limitless and devastating. The moral zeal to eradicate all evil and violence can only lead to a morally legitimate exercise of boundless violence. It is only logical that eventually poison the vegetation and hurl bombs from the sky that can harm everyone on the enemy side, for absolute good must win an absolute victory.

Wilson fought for the perfect justice, the perfected world, and then there was no room for compromises. In the peace he created in Paris were prerequisites for any new war. His compatriots continued to pull the crusade, here and there, until they, at least for the moment - got stuck in the Afghan mountains.