The GOP poked fun at President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize in a fundraising letter sent out to supporters on Friday.

Republican National Committee head Michael Steele said in the letter that Obama won the prize for awesomeness.

It shows how meaningless a once honorable and respected award has become, he wrote.

The Nobel committee's selection of Obama has been criticized, with some saying he hasn't been in office long enough or accomplished enough yet. It also adds pressure on him as he goes on to make decisions on nuclear weapons with Iran and as to whether to send out more troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, political analysts say.

World leaders have shown their support to Obama.

Russia's Dmitry Medvedev sent a letter of congratulations to Obama, saying he wants the award to encourage further U.S.-Russian cooperation.

I hope this decision would serve as an additional incentive for our common work to form a new climate in world politics and promote initiatives which are fundamentally important for global security, Medvedev wrote.

Iraq Afghanistan Dmitry Medvedev Barack obama