Boustany began freelancing for the Washington Post starting in 1979.[1] She was hired on as staff in 1988 at a time when many foreign correspondents had left Beirut for fear of being kidnapped.[2] In this situation, being female helped her, as she explained "It was believed...that it was safer for women because Islamic groups did not want to come in contact with females in a situation of captivity. We had tremendous access."[4] At the Post, she covered Lebanon’s war, Desert Storm, and the upheavals and struggles in Gaza and Algeria from her location in Beirut.[5] She was a correspondent in Algeria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran, speaking four languages: English; Arabic; French; and German.[6] She wrote a column, Diplomatic Dispatches, about Washington's diplomatic community, that was published twice weekly.[7]