US judge dismisses suit against filmmaker Moore

BOSTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) A US federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by an Iraq war veteran who claimed filmmaker Michael Moore used the veteran's image without permission in the anti-war documentary ''Fahrenheit 9/11.'' According to court papers, Judge Douglas Woodlock of US District Court in Massachusetts dismissed the suit on Wednesday.

It had sought 35 million dollars in damages from Moore, as well as Miramax, which is owned by Walt Disney Co and several other film companies.

The film showed Iraq war veteran Sgt Peter Damon, who had lost his right arm near the shoulder and much of his left arm, lying in a hospital gurney at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Maryland, saying that he feels pain but that pain-killers given him ''take a lot of the edge'' off of it.

The video clip was originally used by NBC Nightly News for a story about medical treatment for veterans. In Moore's film, it followed a statement by Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington that ''they're leaving all kinds of veterans behind.'' REUTERS PKS RN0509