The war against Iraq is foremost in the mind of the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, but even he can’t escape the lure of March Madness and Kansas basketball.

When Gen. Richard Myers was asked about war planning during a news briefing Tuesday at the Pentagon, he used an analogy including KU coach Roy Williams to answer.

“I’m sure Roy Williams,” Myers said, “when he puts a plan together to go meet Arizona, he had a plan and he went to the floor that afternoon and said: ‘Okay, we’re going to play Arizona, here’s our game plan.’

“And I imagine that plan didn’t survive the first five minutes … so then he had to start adjusting.

“Are we going to adjust? You bet. Are we light on our feet, can we adjust? Yes. Can they adjust? They try, but it’s futile. OK?” Myers said.

During his own news conference Tuesday, Williams said it was flattering to have been mentioned by Myers.

“I’ve met General Myers. He is a Kansas guy, a Kansas State graduate if I’m not mistaken. I’m not gonna hold that against him now.”

Hear Myers’ comment

Williams, whose team defeated Arizona and will play Marquette on Saturday in the Final Four, said he was pleased to know the NCAA Tournament could provide a diversion for U.S. soldiers.

“There’s nothing I can do for those people,” Williams said of the soldiers deployed to the Middle East. “If there’s a little form of satisfaction, a little form of diversion we can give ’em, it’s the greatest service we can do.”

Williams, acknowledging continued protests, said he was a strong supporter of the troops. “By golly — and you can get a heck of a lot stronger than golly — if those people don’t support our guys over here, then I have no use for ’em whatsoever. I don’t want it to be like Vietnam.”