( CNN ) -- No administration in modern times has been as confused , contradictory and incompetent in trying to make the case for war as this White House has been in its push for action against the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad . Listen to the words of the Obama administration : . On war and peace : At the G20 Summit on Friday , President Barack Obama said as he pushed for strikes in Syria , `` I was elected to end wars , not start them . I 've spent the last four and a half years doing everything I can to reduce our reliance on military power as a means of meeting our international obligations and protecting the American people . '' Then Obama signed onto a joint statement with 10 other nations present at St. Petersburg 's G20 Summit , `` Recognizing that Syria 's conflict has no military solution , we reaffirm our commitment to seek a peaceful political settlement through full implementation of the 2012 Geneva Communique . '' On boots on the ground : Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee , Secretary of State John Kerry wavered on whether U.S. ground forces could be deployed in Syria . Kerry told Committee Chairman Robert Menendez , `` I do n't want to take off the table an option that might or might not be available to a president of the United States to secure our country . '' Then Kerry backtracked when pressed by Ranking Member Bob Corker , `` Let me be very clear now , because I do n't want anything coming out of this hearing that leaves any door open to any possibility , so let 's shut that door now as tight as we can . '' Kerry explained his contradiction by admitting , `` I was thinking out loud . '' On who supplied al-Assad with chemical weapons : Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week when asked where al-Assad got his chemical weapons , `` The Russians supply them . '' The Russians called that a lie and the Defense Department walked back the comment , saying Hagel meant Russians supply conventional weapons to Syria . On war objectives : Gen. Martin Dempsey , chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , could n't answer even the most basic question on U.S. objectives on a Syrian intervention . When Corker asked , `` What is it you 're seeking ? '' Dempsey replied , `` I ca n't answer that , what we 're seeking . '' On the cost of war : Hagel told the House Committee the entire Syria campaign 's cost , `` would be in the tens of millions of dollars , that kind of range . '' Since Tomahawk missiles cost about $ 1 million each , the administration would only be able to deploy several dozen missiles before going over its own budget . So this administration does not know if it wants war or peace , if it will need to deploy ground troops , where the chemical weapons it wants to eradicate come from , what our war objectives are and how much this war will cost . Russian President Vladimir Putin attacked Kerry 's assertion that al Qaeda and radical Islamists comprise only a small part of the anti-Assad rebels , saying Kerry `` is lying and he knows that he is lying . This is sad . '' That a foreign leader would so forcefully call America 's top diplomat a liar points to the administration 's growing credibility gap with the world and the American people . That is sad . Retired Gen. Robert Scales chalks up the public relations disaster to amateurism , writing `` [ Military leaders ] are embarrassed to be associated with the amateurism of the Obama administration 's attempts to craft a plan that makes strategic sense . None of the White House staff has any experience in war or understands it . '' Scales has a point -- when the sitting secretary of state , while discussing matters of war , admits to `` thinking out loud , '' something is very wrong . Every member of Congress should vote his or her conscience on matters of peace and war . After weeks of misstatements , contradictions and gaffes , it is becoming clear that the administration 's leaders are in way over their heads on these weighty matters . For members carefully weighing the decision to authorize force , they should know that a yes vote rewards the most incompetent , atonal security team in our lifetime . It will only encourage more incompetence . If they ca n't even explain the war , how can they win it ? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Newt Gingrich .
Newt Gingrich : Administration officials seem confused on basic questions . He ##dges : Are they for military action or for peace ? What are the targets ? How much will it cost ? Who supplied Syria with chemical weapons ? Gingrich : Administration officials have wavered on these vital questions .