Was he a metaphor for imageboard culture and a reference to MGS2?

In SAC we have a flashback of how Major recruited Saito and it is mentioned it was WWIII

Are you sure about that?
Also, that doesn’t mean 4 didn’t happen.

I watch it religiously once a year, it's not referenced in the animated series.

I could never tell if the plot for the 2nd gig was genius or gibberish. I have a hard time even describing what happened outside of a few plot points.

Doesn't GITS predate MGS2?
I always thought they had a similar aesthetic.

Will I end up like him if I don't have sex?

But do they say they suspect him of wanting a fourth world war, or “another” world war? If they don’t say he wants a fourth one, then there’s no reason to assume there wasn’t already a fourth one.
Well the original stuff did, but SAC started in 2004, which is objectively after MGS2 was made and released.

The first one is already complex as it is and requires multiple watches, second is an expert mode but it's not gibberish, I found it even strangely prophetic of things that are happening today such as the whole Dedjima island subplot, which is why I compared it to MGS2

I didn't have sex and also ended with a cushy government job

Honestly, this whole thing about which war he's trying to start is getting the conversation off the rails really quickly, just watch it, it's irrelevant