Seems like the locals don’t want American boys in the country. But then who will protect the great democracy that is Kuwait 
US marine killed in Kuwait shootout
The US has about 10,000 troops in Kuwait
American marines say they have come under attack during military exercises on Kuwait’s Failaka island.
The US regional command says a US soldier was killed in the shootout. The two gunmen were killed when US troops opened fire on their car.
** The information we have now is that they were civilians **
David Lapan, US Department of Defense
Another marine was wounded in the exchange.
“It is unknown who the gunmen are. The incident is under investigation,” said Lieutenant Josh Frey of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.
However, an unnamed Kuwaiti official quoted by Reuters news agency says the incident could have resulted from a misunderstanding of the US-imposed exclusion area around the exercises.
US troops began the annual exercises with Kuwait on 24 September.
The manoeuvres come as US forces prepare for possible military action against Iraq.
Civilians
US Department of Defense spokesman David Lapan said the marines were taking part in a live fire exercise at about 1130 (0830 GMT) when they came under attack.
It was unclear who the men were, Mr Lapan said.
“The information we have now is that they were civilians,” he said. “They appear not to be Kuwaiti military.”
He added: “Nobody is ready to say who these guys are.”
Failaka island had now been sealed off and the BBC’s Heba Saleh in Cairo says US investigators will be keen to see whether the attackers had any links with Osama Bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.
Misunderstanding?
But the unnamed Kuwaiti official quoted by Reuters said he was not sure the marines had been fired upon first.
“It seems there could have been a misunderstanding on which areas were sealed off for the exercise and these people entered the restricted area which was followed by shooting. The two people in the car were killed,” the senior officer said.
“We are still investigating to find out what happened exactly and if indeed the vehicle fired first or not,” he added.
Kuwait is the strongest regional supporter of US plans to topple Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein - despite unanimous Arab League statements vigorously opposing unilateral military action.
There are already close to 10,000 fully equipped US troops in the country.
But US officials say the Eager Mace annual exercises - now in their fifth year - had been planned long ago and are not connected to possible US-led military action against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
