A force guarding Persian Gulf oil grew into CENTCOM which led four wars.

Evidence

Carter soon launched what became one of the greatest base construction efforts in history. The Middle East buildup soon approached the size and scope of the Cold War garrisoning of Western Europe and the profusion of bases built to wage wars in Korea and Vietnam. U.S. bases sprang up in Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere in the region to host a “Rapid Deployment Force,” which was to stand permanent guard over Middle Eastern petroleum supplies. Eventually, the Rapid Deployment Force grew into the U.S. Central Command, a geographic command like those overseeing Europe and the Pacific. The Central Command would soon lead three wars in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan, plus dozens of other military operations. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 99

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s thesis that bases intended for one purpose create institutional momentum toward later wars (CENTCOM’s origin in oil protection leading to Iraq/Afghanistan wars). — connects to: The Gulf War made the Persian Gulf an American lake
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 99