Candice Lanier – In 2008, candidate Barack Obama claimed to be uniquely qualified to craft Middle East policy because he “spoke their language.” At that time, Obama said that he planned to “convene a meeting with Muslim leaders around the world to discuss how they can align themselves in our battle against terrorism.”

Under Obama’s watch, the green uprising in Iran suffered defeat, Islamist governments have emerged in the Middle East and thousands of Christians have died, in both the Middle East and Africa, at the hands of hands of people whose language Obama says he speaks.  Now, four American diplomats are dead.

According to polling conducted by the Pew Resesrch Center, while Europeans and the Japanese remain largely confident in Obama, though somewhat less so than in 2009, Muslim countries continue to be critical of the Obama administration, overall. Similarly, overall approval ratings for the United States in the EU and Japan are positive, but the same cannot be said for nations such as Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan.

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Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 will support T-Mobile’s network, giving the struggling fourth-place carrier an opportunity to gain ground on its competitors.

T-Mobile’s chief technology officer Neville Ray at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week told CNET and several other sources the chipsets in the new iPhone 5 will support the Advanced Wireless Services, or AWS, frequency the carrier uses in its 3G network.

Just because the iPhone 5 is capable of running on T-Mobile, however, doesn’t mean the companies will be able to strike a deal. Apple largely ignored past requests from the carrier to create an AWS-friendly version of the iPhone, and T-Mobile aggressively promotes Android phones it says are as good, or better than, the iPhone.

However, adding the iPhone 5 to its lineup would be a major boost for a network still reeling from its failed merger with AT&T. The company is reforming its business strategy after the lengthy nine-month process resulted in thousands of lost customers due to uncertainty about the carrier’s fate.

In addition to figuring out how to lure returning and new customers, T-Mobile is the only “big four” U.S. carrier that does not offer the highly coveted iPhone due to its HSPA+ network, which Apple’s device does not support.

More than its other challenges, lack of the iPhone is often cited as T-Mobile’s biggest hurdle to overcome, but that obstacle may be temporary.

Acquiring the iPhone is a costly move for a smaller carrier like T-Mobile. The carrier received a hefty $3 billion break-up fee from AT&T, giving it some cash to invest, but third-place rival Sprint will spend $20 billion over the next five years to sell Apple’s top-selling device and create a more data-friendly network.               More