UN Security Council Veto Rights

This report in The Moscow Times says that Russia is fighting to keep its Security Council veto rights:

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-fights-to-keep-veto-right-in-un-security-council/507926.html

One would think this is consistent with their role as "the evil empire".

However, historical statistics paint a different picture:

In the history of the Security Council, almost half the vetoes were cast by the Soviet Union, with the vast majority of those being before 1965.

Since 1966, out of the total 155 vetoes cast, 133 were issued by one of the council's three NATO members: the US, the UK and France.

From 1946 to 2008, vetoes were issued on 261 occasions. For that period, usage breaks down as follows:

• The United States has used the veto on 82 occasions between 1946 and 2007; and since 1972, it has used its veto power more than any other permanent member.
• Russia or the Soviet Union have used the veto on 124 occasions, more than any two others of the five permanent members of the Security Council combined.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_veto_power

So, the USSR may have been a veto bogeyman, but now the US is in that role.

And by the way, does The Moscow Times have anything to do with Russia?

Q:Who owns the newspaper?

A: The Moscow Times is the founding publication of Sanoma Independent Media (SIM) Publishing House, which was established as Independent Media in March 1992 by a group of Dutch investors headed by Derk Sauer. SIM is now the largest player in the Russian media market, with a portfolio that includes more than 50 publications and projects with a cumulative readership about 12 million and about 25 percent share of the glossy advertising market.

Since 2005, SIM has been a part of Sanoma, a leading European media holding company based in Helsinki that includes subsidiary companies specializing in the publication and distribution of periodicals.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/contact_us/