He works independently. Lucasfilm is in Northern CA not one of the Hollywood studios. Not all movies made in America are made by Hollywood. I don't see any reason to think he didn't make the comments attributed to him. I just think they've been taken out of context by these articles. And they were pretty innocuous to begin with. (My movies are about war...and there is a war on now! What a coincidence!)
You're right about his film being about war and there's a war going on. The article was probably for domestic consumption anyway, Considering the newspaper.