Final answer:
US limited commitment in the Persian Gulf War versus Vietnam was influenced by the Vietnam experience, which underscored the costs of prolonged conflict and guerilla warfare, and created a desire to avoid similar entanglements while maintaining a cautious approach.
Step-by-step explanation:
The United States' more limited military commitment in the Persian Gulf War, compared to Vietnam, was contributed to several factors shaped by the experiences and lessons from the Vietnam War. The war in Vietnam showed the difficulties of fighting guerilla warfare in an unfamiliar environment, the complexities of engaging in a civil conflict where U.S. presence was often resented, and the political costs of a long-term military engagement without clear progress. Additionally, the war exposed the pitfalls of not aligning military strategy with the political and public will, resulting in a credibility gap between government reports and the true state of the war, and made evident the tragic human cost of prolonged conflict. These factors made the U.S. much more cautious in its approach to the Persian Gulf War, favoring a swift and overwhelming force but with a clearly defined and limited engagement scope.