According to Joel Brinkley of the NY Times: The United States has warned four nations campaigning jointly for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council that it will not support their cause unless they agree not to ask for the veto power that the five current permanent Council members hold, senior diplomats and administration officials said.
The four nations - Brazil, India, Germany and Japan - are unhappy about that position. "The Security Council is not like an aircraft, with first class, business and economy seats," said Ryozo Kato, Japan's ambassador to the United States.
Of course, Africa is sorely missing from the list of expansion nations that the US has appeared to accept. Here, more from the Times:
Besides the four countries pooling their efforts, three African nations - Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa - are conducting vigorous individual campaigns for some of the six new permanent seats proposed in March by Secretary General Kofi Annan. The purpose of the change is to have the Council reflect the current balance of global power better than is the case with the original five permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - and 10 members elected to two-year terms.
The proposal Mr. Annan offered would expand the 15-member Council to 24 members, with the six new permanent members without vetoes, and three new two-year spots for rotating members.
My own view is that extending the veto power may well work to improve the ability of the Security Council to get things done--by virtue of the tit-for-tat retaliation available against anyone who deploys the veto too readily.
That probably is the reason that the US is against extending the veto power.