Anyone who has followed this conflict closely can see alarming gaps in the Forces’ equipment. The lack of systems like self-propelled guns, rocket artillery, and weaponised drones / loitering munitions would put our troops in a seriously bad position if push came to shove.
It’s genuinely great to hear that that wasn’t the overall goal or intention of the idea.
That said, I think it also does need to be acknowledged that there absolutely were prominent influencers on social media who preached HAES literally - as in, posting videos vehemently declaring the doctors are lying to you and obesity is actually perfectly healthy.
I guess as with many other things, it’s a case of the extreme outliers (who in this case, as you say, didn’t even get the point) getting the most attention and spoiling things for the sane people.