F-22s will not deter Russia in Syria – their shows of force will

The United States is deploying F-22 fighter jets from the Air Force’s 94th Fighter Squadron to Syria. Their mission will be to deter Russia from its escalating harassment of U.S. forces in that nation. That harassment has two purposes: to push the U.S. out of Syria (a longtime priority Russian objective) and to earn Beijing’s favor for Moscow by pressuring the U.S. military. The F-22 is the world’s finest air superiority fighter. Where the F-35 fighter jet is a creaking stealth computer, the F-22 is a stealth assassin. The U.S. military would be in a much better position had former…