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American President Barack Obama acknowledged on Wednesday that an American drone strike on an al Qaeda compound along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in January killed two hostages, an American and an Italian. Mr. Obama claimed that the mistake was due to faulty intelligence, and that American officials had no reason to believe the hostages were at the compound. However, he nonetheless defended the work of the intelligence community. The same strike that killed the hostages also killed Ahmed Farouq, an American citizen and deputy emir of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent. In a separate operation in the same region, an American drone strike killed another American al Qaeda operative, Adam Gadahn, who faced treason charges. Mr. Gadahn was a director of al Qaeda’s media campaign, and his death could be a significant blow to the terrorist organization. American officials said neither Mr. Gadahn nor Mr. Farouq was specifically targeted. The New York Times editorial board suggests that these revelations raise doubts regarding the policy guidance governing American drone strikes.