U.S. Congressional Republicans are divided over President Barack Obama's stance on Afghanistan strategy Tuesday, as foreign policy quickly shapes up to be an important issue in this election cycle.

The White House's decision to stick with a 2014 pullout timetable from Afghanistan will only embolden anti-U.S. sentiment in that country and opens the door to terror groups in the region, John McCain, a top Senate Republican said on Tuesday.

McCain said a smaller U.S presence in Afghanistan, focused on counterterrorism operations, is not a recipe for success.

"That didn't work in Iraq, and it won't work in Afghanistan," McCain said, adding situation in that country could still be turned around, "once the president stops talking about withdrawal. "

However, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he supports the administration's plans to gradually withdraw troops from Afghanistan, admitting "it certainly has been a very difficult period with the incidents that have brought this all so much to home again."

The comments comes on the same day that Obama dismissed any notion that U.S. troop withdrawals would be accelerated, due to the uproar caused by Sunday's shootings of Afghan civilians by a U. S. soldier.

The killings, along with the Koran burning incident in Afghanistan last month, have renewed calls from some Democrats and Republicans for a hastened withdrawal. A group of 24 senators, including two Republicans, signed a letter last week circulated by Sens. Max Baucus and Jeff Merkley calling for a more rapid withdrawal.

The administration plans to drawdown the final 23,000 surge troops who are in Afghanistan in the summer, but has insisted it is not speeding up further withdrawals.

Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have criticized Obama for withdrawing the surge troops this year.