The associate editors are not usually the referee of papers and so it seems to me that there is not important to be anonymous. It will be my pleasure if you explain benefit of this rule.
For me, it is normal to know them, to be under debate and to have possibility for helps and cooperation for each other., because anyone or any colleagues might say, why is this to answer your opinion? Yes, because to achieve the purpose of scientific research relevant targets long, medium and short term working reachable by several methods, such as the office, as in the laboratory or the field, so we have a debate, consultation, suggestive, remark, achieved with the assistance of those of mutual cooperation. I say this because I had many years ago with an anonymous debate, until I knew who he was passed a few months, because of why he thought so as I had written. To understand each other without jealousy as such ...
When between them there is no compliance with each other ... choose another ... but not the one who will publish his work several years' scientific research, not plagiarism, that do not use either as reference works stolen goods, which now are becoming somewhat common, where there is much to improve by publishers ... Let us hope for the best ... for us who want to publish our work, those who are not anonymous or are anononymous, or those them who publish works our ...