If I were Vladimir Putin...

If I were Vladimir Putin...  Bret Stephens writing at The Wall Street Journal.  Here's his lede:

If I were Vladimir Putin I'd invade eastern Ukraine this week. Strike while the iron is hot.

Never again will the taking be so easy. Never again will the government in Kiev be so helpless. Never again will the administration in Washington be so inept, its threats so hollow. Never again will the powers in Europe be so feeble and dependent. Never again will Western monetary policy do so much to prop up energy prices.

While Mr. Putin is at it, he might consider invading one of the Baltic states. Barack Obama isn't about to ask Americans to die for Estonia, where a quarter of the population is ethnically Russian. The U.S. president wants "nation-building at home," after all. Let him have at it.

Go read the whole thing!

Here's some background...

Some of my Estonian friends are quite worried...