[BenLurkin]

I don't know if you guys know this, but MacArthur declared Manila an open city at the outset of WWII.

It remained intact until he retook it later in the war. The Japanese were not as civilized as General MacArthur.

[lodi90]

If Ukraine had done that the battle would be at Odesa now instead. Forcing Putin to struggle to steal Mariupol and especially Kharkiv is humiliating Russia and giving the defenders time to fortify the rest of the country.

[ought-six]

“I don’t know if you guys know this, but MacArthur declared Manila an open city at the outset of WWII. It remained intact until he retook it later in the war. The Japanese were not as civilized as General MacArthur.”

Yeah, but its citizens were still brutalized by Japanese occupiers. Maritime assets in Manila Bay were bombed at the outset, primarily those across the Bay from the city, as the US Navy was using them. However, the Port of Manila did suffer some minor damage, not much, as the Japanese wanted to use it for their invasion of Indonesia.

But Manila was pretty much destroyed in 1945 when MacArthur “returned,” and the Battle of Manila was fought (that was a BRUTAL fight).