John Kerry spoke in French, President Barack Obama paid an unannounced visit to the French embassy in Washington to sign the book of condolence, David Cameron was first to express his anger, sorrow and unity with the French people after the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

Vladimir Putin set aside the huge differences over Ukraine and the sanctions punishing Russia to express his solidarity while Israel expressed its' concern over the 'terror offensive' taking place in France.

However, at the end of the day while the words are welcome and reassuring what of concrete value can all these countries -- who have experienced the terror of similar and worse attacks in the past -- and other friends provide France and its President Francois Hollande?

Intelligence is certainly one vital contribution they can provide.

However, it will have been galling for the French intelligence services to see the news revealed overnight of how they had previously flagged up to their US counterparts that Said, the elder of the two Kouachi brothers, as having spent time in Yemen training with Al Qaida in 2011 and had been on the no flight list of the US for years.

Despite this he and Sharif, the younger brother who tried and failed to get to Iraq in 2005 – after which he served time in prison - slipped off their radar. The consequences of this failure to keep tabs on them -- just as was the case with Mohammed Merah in 2012 and Mehdi Nemmouche, the suspected perpetrator of the deadly attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels -- has been brutally exposed this week.

The problem, though, they reply, lies in the fact there are an estimated 5000 people of such interest to them and it would take 20 agents to cover each of those -- resources simply not available -- and they can cite having prevented several other such terrorist attempts.

Of course that is of little succour or reassurance to the French people.

While Prime Minister Manuel Valls talks of stiffening up the terror measures already in place several experts believe there is no need for that.

It is however, highly unlikely they will bow to the urgings of Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far right Front National who enjoyed unprecedented success in both council and European elections last year, to suspend their adherence to the Schengen Agreement and also to declare war on 'Islamic Fundamentalism'.

For President Hollande -- already weighed down by rising unemployment and poor economic figures as well as embarrassing revelations by his former companion -- the answers are not easy.

For not only has he to find solutions to the events of this week but also to the root causes where a succession of disenchanted young men largely from the outer poor suburbs of the large cities -- where hope and jobs are in equally poor supply -- can be easily radicalised and become as one of the brothers was described 'ticking time bombs'.

For the people and the President of the country that prides itself on its historic slogan dating back to the Revolution 'liberty, equality and fraternity' much hangs on finding the right responses and their foreign friends will be looking on with a vested interest. 

Pirate Irwin is a journalist based in Paris @pirateirwin