I thought that it was a clever "McGuffin" (a plot deviced that merely serves it's porpouse, Hitchcock named as "McGuffin") that GL had created in order to make Obi-Wan look like he was once a great warrior and jedi knight. Never really thought about it, and before the prequels I didn't even notice Leia also mentions the "clone wars". I thought it was something GL had merely created for plot reasons, with no real meaning - and if we think about it, it REALLY was like that back when SW was being made!