According to a contemporary text, the Edicts of Ashoka, Ashoka converted to Buddhism because he “felt ... A. L. Basham, Ashoka's personal religion became Buddhism, if not before, then certainly after the Kalinga War.
It depends on your perspective. To the Native Americans, it was the beginning of an end. Their lives will be changed forever by their contact with the fur traders, soldiers, and missionaries that follow in the wake of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Certainly the changes will be gradual, but changes none the less.
It sounds like he wants to keep the US out of the war in the spirit of fairness to me.
But it could just be a more logical reason, such as not wanting any pain or harm done to his state.
