Michael Moore sued by an armless war veteran

Filmmaker Michael Moore is being sued by an armless war veteran who says Moore's controversial movie, "Fahrenheit 9/11," used clips without his permission reports CNN

Sgt. Peter Damon, 33, a supporter of President George W. Bush and the Iraq war, claims Moore misused footage to portray him "in a false light" and as "disagreeing with the president about the war effort and as disagreeing with the war effort itself."

"It was kind of almost like the enemy was using me for propaganda. What soldier wants to be involved in that?" Damon told CBS's local television news affiliate. "I didn't lose my arms over there to come back and be used as ammunition against my commander-in-chief."

The suit, which claims "defamation and infliction of emotional distress," also names film executives, distributors and the NBC television network, which shot the original footage Moore used in his film. The suit seeks $175 million in damages.

In Michael Moore's anti-war film Fahrenheit 9/11 Peter is shown lying on a gurney, covered in bandages. He says he feels as if he's "being crushed in a vise," adding, "but [the painkillers] do a lot to help it. And they take a lot of the edge off of it."

The scene follows a clip showing the Democratic congressman Jim McDermott criticising the Bush administration's conduct of the war in Iraq. "You know, they say they're not leaving any veterans behind, but they're leaving all kinds of veterans behind," the politician says.

Damon says his placement in the movie made it sound as if the military and the Bush administration had left him to grapple alone with pain or possibly even a drug addiction when, in reality, he "agrees with and supports the president and the United States' war effort and was not left behind."

NBC had been questioning Damon about the painkiller he was using, a new drug the military was distributing to wounded veterans reports E Online

"They took the clip because it was a gut-wrenching scene," Damon told Fox News Tuesday. "They sandwiched it in. [Moore] was using me as ammunition."

The controversial Fahrenheit 9/11 was a smash hit for Moore and Miramax, winning the Palme d'Or at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and grossing more than $222 million worldwide.

In a suit , Damon says Moore never sought his consent for using segments of an NBC Nightly News interview with Damon while he was in hospital.

Damon told the New York Post that Moore couldn't have picked a worse guy to pin the charge of being anti-war on writes E Online

"I'm the most fortunate disabled guy," he said. "I was complaining about the pain I would've been having [if it weren't for the painkiller]."

Damon's lawyer, Dennis Lynch, also weighed in with the Associated Press.

"It's upsetting to him because he's lived his life supportive of his government, he's been a patriot, he's been a soldier, and he's now being portrayed in a movie that is the antithesis of all that," Lynch said.

Sgt. Peter Damon filed the suit May 25 in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, Massachusetts.

By Fabien Montique posted time [ 2:18 AM] (1)