Most Americans believe President Obama has done the right thing to fire Gen. Stanley McChrystal as commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and they support setting a timetable to begin withdrawing from the war zone, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup poll released on Monday.

In all, 53 percent approve of Obama's decision to remove the disgraceful general, who was ousted last week after making contemptuous remarks of senior administration officials including Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Only 30 percent disapprove of the decision.

The poll, which was conducted June 25-26, shows that a majority of Americans back the president's plan to start pulling out U.S. troops from Afghanistan in July 2011, with a margin of 58 percent to 38 percent.

However, the timetable, which Obama announced in December when unveiling his new Afghan strategy, was fiercely blasted by ranking Republicans in Congress.

"It was purely a political decision, not one based on facts on the ground, not one based on military strategy," Republican Senator John McCain said on Sunday. "You tell the enemy you're leaving, they will wait...in wars you declare when you're leaving after you've succeeded."

Fifty percent of Americans say Obama is doing a good or very good job in handling Afghanistan; 44 percent rate his performance as poor or very poor, according to the poll. That's a slightly brighter appraisal than his overall approval rating of 46 percent in the daily Gallup Poll.