American strategists are calculating, though, that the trade sanctions -- enforced by an effective though perhaps undeclared naval blockade -- will hold tightly enough to convince Iraq that it will lose in the long run by simply standing pat. At that point, rather than go through the humiliation of backing out of Kuwait, the Iraqis might well conclude that they need to (lash) out in some way to shake things up.  
 Verb: lash
Yes