Abusing the Holocaust Analogy?

Michael Desch asserts that the strategic use and abuse of a "Holocaust Analogy" is responsible for the United States' unconditional support of Israel and a misguided commitment to combat genocide. Guided by a false sense of guilt, he argues, American decision makers have lost sight of the national interest. 1
The argument fails to persuade. First, Desch's depiction of the Holocaust analogy is unsubstantiated and idiosyncratic. Second, uncovering an historical connection between an abandonment myth and American foreign policy cannot provide guidance in making what are essentially moral judgments. Third, empirical claims premised upon the existence of an objective, or value-free, conception of the national interest are ill-suited to the task of adjudicating competing moral claims. Hence, "The Myth of Abandonment" constitutes a misuse, indeed an abuse, of social science.